Rebels of War
by NorthernDragon
Summary: "D'you like heavy metal music?" Black asked. -"Love it," Gemma grinned. Gemma Fall is in Sirius Black's eyes nothing more than a quiet, at times sarcastic, innocent, bookworm. But Gemma has a whole other rebellious side to her… T for language *On Hiatus*
1. Be Creative

**Full Summary: **_**"D'you like heavy metal music?" Black asked. -"Love it," Gemma grinned. **_**Gemma Fall is in Sirius Black's eyes nothing more than a quiet, at times sarcastic, innocent, bookworm. But as they say, **_**never judge a book by its cover. **_**Gemma has a whole other 'darker' side to her, a side that Sirius finds a lot more interesting, and a few sarcastic comments soon evolve into a brilliant friendship between the mischievous Sirius Black and secretly rebellious Gemma Fall.**

**This is the first FanFiction that I've published and it took me a while to decide if I would do it or not but here it is! So thank you a million times for giving it a chance.**

**Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the Harry Potter universe and story belong to Joanne Kathleen Rowling and certainly not me. But I reckon you had already guessed that.**

**Chapter 1**

A chilly breeze played with the leaves above her as the sun began to set. From where she sat the secretive lake and the hills that hid the outer world were nearly all that could be seen.

However, the idyllic landscape was not given the young girl's attention. She was far gone in another world, led by the words of the battered book in her hands. For what seemed like merely minutes, Gemma had been seated under the large tree, wrapped tightly in her robes reading. But it had in fact been two hours that had passed by this way.

The talk and laughter of her fellow students had done nothing to disturb Gemma's peace and so far neither had the weather but the air began to blow colder and the sky grew darker, no longer providing her with light to read.

The golden blond girl rose tiredly from the ground after deciding to head back inside the castle of Hogwarts and up to the cozy Gryffindor common room. She walked silently and met none of her friends on the way which lead her to assume that they were in the common room already. And her assumption turned out to be true.

"There you are! Have you been outside reading all this time? It's nearly a quarter past ten!" the red-headed girl Lily Evans exclaimed from the table she was seated at, when she saw Gemma enter the room with a book in hand.

"Yeah, I guess I lost track of time."

"I still don't get how you can spend, like, half a day just reading," Gemma's good friend Jacqueline mused. "I mean don't you ever get bored?"

"Reading isn't boring, Jackie, of course you'd never understand that seeing as you believe that anything that involves longer concentration is not worthy of your attention. And of course the fact that you're scared of books," Lily added teasingly.

"I'm not scared of books," Jacqueline muttered whilst Gemma chuckled, though agreeing with Lily. "And I actually do read, just not twenty-four hours a day like you two."

"We don't read twenty-four hours a day – we're not reading right now are we?" Gemma inquired. "And what do you read besides school stuff and magazines?"

"Hey! I'm actually reading Romeo and Juliet at the time being!"

"Oh, right. So what do you read besides school stuff, magazines and romance novels?"

Jacqueline remained silent.

The evening continued in the same manner. Another girl, Taylor Moore, soon joined them and the four best friends talked, laughed and teased each other as the second-last Saturday of the semester quickly ran by. In a week they would all be on the Hogwarts Express on their way home for summer. Gemma was surprised by how quickly the year had gone by. She found it hard to believe that soon she would be entering her last year at Hogwarts before leaving the castle, which she had grown to think of and love as a second home, forever.

The following Wednesday started out the same way as ever. Taylor and Jackie were doing their best to yank both Lily and Gemma out of bed and afterwards Lily would be yelling at Gemma for taking too long in the shower.

When Lily, Jackie, Taylor and Gemma all deemed themselves ready to go, they headed down to the common room and further down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Hey, Lily-flower! You look wonderful as always," James Potter, Lily's obsessed stalker as the three other girls called him, said as he seated himself next to Lily and across from Gemma. The red-head gave James one of her famous glares.

"One: my name is Lily or Evans – nothing more or less. Two: I have already told you that you have no right to complement me and three: no-one has asked for you to sit with us, so please spare us from the sight of your dimwitted face and get away from us, Potter!" Gemma couldn't help but smile at her friend's fury. For nearly four years had James pestered Lily and begged her to go out with him, though failed miserably at getting her to accept. Though James' attempts at 'wooing' Lily, as he put it, were getting a bit old, they never failed to amuse the rest of the school, nor did Lily's attempts at getting him to stop, which were getting quite harsh with time.

"But my dear, precious Lily-pad, I find sitting here quite enjoyable," James replied trying to sound elegant, though deliberately going against everything Lily had just said, causing her to go red with fury. Remus Lupin cut in though, before she could speak her mind.

"Just leave her alone James; let the girls eat in peace." Out of the four Gryffindor boys in their year, the girls had always liked Remus better than the others, seeing as he was quieter, less arrogant and more reasonable than the three other boys. Well, Peter Pettigrew wasn't that arrogant but James Potter and Sirius Black were the definition of arrogant, according to Lily. The other three girls didn't find them _that _bad and tolerated them better than their ginger friend did.

The four boys called themselves The Marauders for reasons unknown to Gemma, and one of their sole purposes was causing havoc. They would mostly prank Slytherins or defenseless younger students but every now and then, their victims would be students who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Gemma and Taylor had given each of the four boys a sort of title, and Lily and Jackie had also taken to using them. James was The Obsessed Boy, seeing as he was obsessed with both Quidditch and to Lily's horror, herself; Remus was The Friendly and Quiet One and Peter Pettigrew was The Tag-Along. Last but not least there was Sirius Black who they called The Man-Whore seeing as he had quite the reputation, especially when it came to girls.

"But that's no fun, Moony," Potter whined, protesting against Remus's words.

"Yeah, that's no fun. And you wouldn't want us to get bored, now would you?" Black said as he slid down in the seat next to Gemma.

"Sure, go ahead and sit here, you don't need to ask," she muttered sarcastically.

"Did you say something, Fall?" Black asked as he piled food onto his plate.

"Yes, I was muttering my undying love for you and how you make me swoon whenever you're near me." Sarcasm was again clear in her words and Taylor snorted unladylike, mumbling something along "like that's ever going to happen".

"Oh, I already knew that, love, but you must know that we cannot be together."

"Why, oh why not?" Gemma played along. Black did irritate the living hell out of her for most of the time but she actually found talking to him quite amusing once in a while, not that she would ever tell him.

"Because…" Black paused for a dramatic effect, "I do not love you back," he finished as he looked at her, faking a sorry expression. By now Taylor and Jacqueline couldn't help but laugh and the rest of them too found it hard to suppress their smiles.

Gemma held her hand to her heart as if it were broken. "You do not love me? After all we've been through, you do not love me anymore?"

"I… I never did love you."

Gemma burst into fake tears causing more attention to be drawn to her and Black. "Sirius Black does not love me! My life is over! I might as well kill myself!"

"Oh, just shut up and snog already," Potter said whilst rolling his eyes at their antics.

"Gladly! But I didn't know you wanted to see such a thing," Black replied, smirking. James gave a look of disgust.

"Right; I take what I said back."

"And even if you didn't, there is no way in hell that I'm going to snog Black."

"I'm hurt, Fall, deeply hurt," Black held a hand to his heart as Gemma had done before. She was about to say something in return but Lily, irritated and snappy just by the presence of Potter, beat her to it.

"Cut it out you two, no-one asked for another drama show. So please, act normal and eat your breakfast."

"Yes, mum," Black and Gemma mumbled in unison earning themselves a death-glare from Lily.

After breakfast they all, except for Peter and Jacqueline, headed for their last potions class of sixth year. The exams were over, they ended the week before, yet the students still had to attend classes for three more days, something they always complained about. But this Wednesday was their last day of school and early Saturday they would be on the train home.

"Good morning, class! In the light of this year's ending, what do you say to having a wee bit of fun, hmm?" Professor Slughorn greeted the class cheerfully. No-one bothered to answer his question as they all knew that he already had something planned. And normally when the professors said they were to do something fun, the class, including Gemma, would disagree on the use of the word 'fun'.

"I was thinking of letting you run a little loose and get to choose a potion for yourselves – of course you'll need my acceptance before you begin. If you wish, you may also try experimenting – creativity is what makes a potion brewer best you know!"

"Oh really? Then why has he made us read hundreds of books and papers about the _exact _and _only _way to brew the different potions, if creativity is the best way to go?" Gemma whispered to Taylor who smilingly snorted in agreement – Taylor was quite an unladylike girl.

"Miss Evans, what do you have to say?" Slughorn asked Lily.

"May we also choose our own potions partner, professor?"

"Why, that's a wonderful idea, Miss Evans! Just don't get too used to these arrangements, class," he said, smiling joyfully but only succeeded in annoying Gemma. She had always found him very fake and far too happy, and two things that Gemma hated, was fake people and people who always had some stupid smile on their face.

"Well, you may begin! Chop, chop!"

The classroom became filled with noise as everyone bustled around to find a partner. Slughorn hadn't said how many there were allowed to a group so Lily, Taylor and Gemma found no harm in working together. Potter, Black and Remus had also grouped together.

Most of the students decided to experiment as they were almost never allowed to do so. The four girls made the same choice but had it not been for Lily, their potion would most likely have blown up the entire classroom. Gemma and Taylor had both gotten E's in their potion O.W.L.'s, and Lily had of course received and O. She had also spoken of becoming a potion brewer for the wizarding hospital, St. Mungo's where Gemma and Taylor had no idea as to what they wanted to do when they graduated from Hogwarts. Well, Taylor had a dream about becoming a professional Quidditch player.

In the end of the class Severus Snape, a Slytherin boy that had once been Lily's good friend before an unfortunate incident, was the only one who had managed to get an effective potion out of his experiments. He had created a potion that warmed up the body and made your skin feel as if the sun was shining on it. Most of the class rolled their eyes as Snape was praised for his work.

Gemma saw Sirius lean over to James and say something that made them both snicker. Gemma smiled as well for she had heard what he had said.

"As useful as that potion might be, I really think he should have made a shampoo instead."

The three boys had failed at making a productive potion; instead they had a big slimy blotch moving around on their table. It was quite freaky, really.

The girls had managed to make nothing more than a turquoise substance that smelled of seaweed. Lily would without a doubt had made a better potion if she had made it on her own, seeing as Gemma and Taylor had been more interested in having fun than making a good potion. Nearly all of the students had felt the same way. But Gemma and Taylor were actually quite proud of their achievement, though it had no effect, except, perhaps, making you very sick. Lily settled with just rolling her eyes at what they had created.

Many of the students' potions had exploded and some had only liquid and an awful stank to be proud of.

But for once, Gemma had to admit that it had actually been fun.

**I hope you like it so far but if you don't then thanks for giving it a shot anyways :)**


	2. Stained Illusions

**Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the Harry Potter universe and story belongs to Joanne Kathleen Rowling and certainly not me. **

**Chapter 2**

"Oh my god, he is SO in to you!"

"No, he isn't! He was just being polite in wanting to say goodbye to me."

"Because he's in to you," Lily repeated Jacqueline's words.

Before stepping on the Hogwarts Express, Jared West, who Taylor once had been potions partners with, came by to say goodbye to her and wish her a good summer. This little action had Lily and Jackie convinced that he liked her.

Taylor had only gone out with one boy and that had only been one single date. She always said that she just wasn't the 'dating-type' of girl, and was more interested in sports (mainly Quidditch) than in boys. Yet Gemma found it hard to understand that Taylor hadn't even been asked out more.

"Lily, Jackie, cut it out! Jared is just a friend and I repeat: he was just being polite! You agree with me, don't you, Gemma?" All three of the girls turned and looked expectantly at the golden blond girl who had seated herself by the window in the compartment they had just found.

"Oh no, I'm staying out of this," Gemma shook her head with wide eyes. She didn't have much knowledge about boyfriends and relationships – the only dates she had been on were those for the balls that were sometimes held at Hogwarts.

"Taylor, I'm telling you, I _know _when a boy is head over heels for a girl. I can see it just by the way he looks at her," Lily continued.

"Oh, please, Jared doesn't look at me at all like Potter looks at you." Lily's cheeks turned red which did not go unnoticed by the rest of the girls.

"Well, that's because Potter," she spit his name out as if it were poison," isn't head over heels for me."

"Then why does he keep on asking you out and complementing you?" Gemma inquired.

"To irritate me of course." Taylor and Gemma shared a look both thinking "yeah right".

"Whatever you say, Lily-flower," Gemma teased. Lily blushed even further and turned her glare towards Gemma.

"I thought you wanted to stay out of our conversation."

"That was before it took a lovely turn of event." The girls chuckled at their red-headed friend who no longer only had red hair but a red face as well.

"Oh, knock it off you guys!" But it wasn't long before all five of the girls were laughing.

At seven O'clock the train arrived at the crowded platform 9¾ at King's Cross Station. Taylor, Lily, Jackie and Gemma stepped out of the train with their luggage in hand trying not to get knocked over by all of the other students.

While weaving their way through the crowd they stumbled upon more of their friends such as Alice Tripe, Frank Longbottom and Mary MacDonald, three graduated Gryffindors; Dorcas Meadows, a soon-to-be seventh year Ravenclaw; Marlene McKinnon a soon-to-be sixth year Gryffindor and Emmeline Vance, a soon-to-be seventh year though in Hufflepuff.

Lily was the first to spot her muggle parents and she hugged the girls goodbye, making them promise to write to her and telling them that they should get together some time in the summer. Taylor would be in America for most of the time, visiting her mother's family, but was coming home a week before school; Jacqueline was going to Spain but only for two weeks and both Lily and Gemma would be doing close to nothing.

Jacqueline was the next to notice her parents and they said goodbye once again.

Gemma and Taylor's family were standing together talking. Gemma's older brother Matthew and Taylor's older sister Kaylee were there too, holding hands. They had begun dating in their seventh year, much to Taylor and Gemma's delight, and they were now married.

"Ello!" Taylor greeted cheerfully gaining attention from the six adults.

"Cracker! My, have you grown! You're unbelievably heavy!" Matthew teased as he lifted Gemma in a hug. She slapped the top of his head for calling her heavy. Cracker had been Matt's nickname for Gemma ever since she was three and he ten. She was given the name Cracker because of her love for biscuits, cookies and, well, crackers.

They all greeted each other with hugs, cheek and nose kisses and smiles. Matthew was grinning extra widely though, his smile dimples clear. Gemma was always amused by his dimples for over all Matt actually looked quite tough. Because of his love for heavy metal and rock music he had a dark style. His hair was black and short, his muscular upper body and arms decorated with loads of tattoos but when he smiled his dimples would show and make him look a lot more childish.

"Why are you grinning like a mad man?" Gemma smiled at her older brother. Matthew looked at Kaylee as if asking for permission to say something and then back at Gemma and Taylor.

"We're pregnant!"

"Actually, honey, it's only me who's pregnant," Kaylee kissed her husband's cheek.

"You're pregnant! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Gemma we're gonna be aunts! We're gonna be fudging aunts!" Taylor danced around making everyone laugh.

"So, how far are you?" Gemma grinned at Kaylee. The blond woman was wearing a loose long-sleeved shirt so it was impossible to see if her stomach had grown.

"Nearly 20 weeks actually. ("20 WEEKS!?" Gemma exclaimed to which the rest, except for Taylor, chuckled.) We found out quite a while ago but decided we'd rather tell you in person than in a letter."

"And Taylor's reaction is why we did that," Matt chuckled as Taylor accidently danced in to a pillar.

"Well, we better get going. I left a chicken in the oven and I'd rather it isn't burnt when we come home," Monica Fall, Gemma's mother, said with a smile. Monica and Travis Fall were both muggle-borns and had raised Gemma and Matthew as part muggles, so Monica had always cooked without the help of magic.

"What about us, mom? What are we having for dinner?" Taylor asked Mackenzie Moore.

"We'll be having the same chicken seeing as we'll be eating together," she replied in her thick American accent. Mackenzie was a muggle-born witch from California and South Carolina meaning that Taylor and Kaylee were half American. That was also the reason why they called Mackenzie 'mom' instead of the British 'mum'. Their father, Edward Moore, was a muggle from England.

"Yay!" Taylor and Gemma exclaimed, both still slightly hyper after receiving the lovely news from Matt and Kaylee.

"Monica! Travis! Is it really you? It's been a while since we last saw each other, hasn't it?" A woman presumably in her fifties greeted Gemma's parents along with a man who was most likely her husband.

"Why, yes it has! Everyone, this is Vera and Thomas Potter!" Gemma and Taylor exchanged a look at their last name 'Potter'. "Vera used to tutor me in Charms back at Hogwarts," Monica explained.

"And I would be forcing Travis to push harder at Quidditch," Thomas Potter smiled and Travis and he laughed as the old friends they were.

"Yes, you were the most demanding though successful captain Hogwarts has ever seen!"

"Oh, I don't know about that. I think my son has taken that title," Thomas chuckled.

"Oh, right, James is his name is it not? Gemma, Taylor, you must know him," Monica questioned just as James and Black appeared a couple of paces away.

"We're acquainted," Gemma nodded. She was slightly confused as to why Black hadn't gone home with his own family but then remembered a rumor that had been going on in the beginning of the year, stating that Black had run away from his family and gone to stay with the Potters.

"Well, it's been lovely to see you again – we really must get together some time – but we have to get going. There's a chicken in the oven at home and we best not be late!"

"Oh no, that wouldn't be good! But yes, we really should get together some time. Maybe we could have dinner in a couple of days?" Vera suggested.

"That would be great!" Travis agreed.

Just as James and Black approached them, the Potters and the Falls and Moores parted their ways with a friendly goodbye.

"I sure hope I don't get included in that dinner," Gemma whispered to Taylor.

The smell of chicken, luckily not burnt, welcomed Gemma home as she entered the small entrance hall. Taylor and her parents had quickly gone home to drop off Taylor's luggage. With a wave of her wand and a smile on her face, Gemma levitated her own luggage up the stairs and in to her room. She had turned seventeen on the 13th of October, last year and truly enjoyed the fact that she could now use magic outside of Hogwarts.

The door to Gemma's room had a sign on which it said _Gemma October Fall _in her twelve-year-old-self's handwriting. In her mother's family, it had always been a tradition for the girls' middle names to be the month they were born in. Her mother Monica's middle name was February. Gemma both found the tradition silly but also nice and she loved the name October.

Under the sign with her name was a poster of _the door to Moria _from one of her favorite series, the Lord of the Rings. Friends and family who had never read the series always questioned her about it but she had given up on explaining it to them and simply told them to read the books.

White walls covered with wizard and muggle photos, posters, paintings and patches of paper with quotes written on them shaped Gemma's medium-sized room. One of the walls was painted black but the Gryffindor banner and the many other wall-decorations made up for the darkness. Gemma had always loved her room, but she had also put a lot of effort into making it perfect. She believed it did justice in showing who she was. There were posters of her favorite muggle bands such as AC/DC and Iron Maiden and her favorite wizarding Wrock bands such as Wands N' Roses and Poison For My Valentine. There were plenty of photographs of her family and friends and she also had a map of Middle Earth, the world of The Lord of the Rings.

As Gemma opened the Gryffindor red drapes, Matt entered the room. He chuckled as he looked upon the posters of the hard rock bands.

"What's so funny?"

"The fact that I've truly corrupted you with my dark ways," he said. It was after all him who had given Gemma her love for the hard rock style, though she didn't really look like a girl who would like such music. It was a surprise to most people to find out that she loved hard rock but Gemma loved the look on their faces when they did.

"Yeah, well I'm glad you showed me 'the light'… or should I say 'the dark,' " They both laughed at Gemma's terrible pun. "But will you keep up on the heavy metal style now that you're gonna be a dad?" She still found it hard to believe that he was going to become a dad. And it was even harder to believe that Kaylee had been pregnant for nearly 20 weeks without Gemma or Taylor being told anything. The two girls had also playfully scolded their family for not telling them earlier.

"Sure! I'll be the tough daddy that makes sure no one messes with my baby. And I haven't really got anything but the band – I don't want anything else but the band – so dropping the heavy metal style would be kind of stupid. Not to mention that I can't get rid of these tattoos."

"You could always use magic," Gemma suggested though she knew Matt would never do such a thing.

"I don't want to get rid of them," Matthew said, proving Gemma's thoughts right.

"Anyways, how's the band going?" Gemma asked. Matthew was the lead singer and sometimes guitarist in his own band, created with four of his best mates, called Stained Illusions.

"Not much has happened – we get a few gigs now and then but nothing major has happened yet. We've gotten more fans though which feels absolutely crazy. A great deal of people still hate us though, saying that it sounds more like noise than music, but hey, it's heavy metal, not everyone's supposed to like it!" Gemma chuckled at her brother's optimism. She herself quite loved the music Matt and his friends created and didn't see why people didn't like it. Not to mention the fact that she found it absolutely awesome that her brother could become a rock star.

"I figured we'd find you two here," Kaylee said as she and Taylor entered Gemma's room. "What are you two talking about?" Matt pulled her to his side, holding his arm loosely around her waist.

"Matt's band," Gemma answered.

"Oh, right! How's it going?" Taylor questioned. Matt chuckled and decided to answer with a simple "great" instead of repeating what he had said a few moments ago. "So, are you a big rock star yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, I think it's only a matter of time," Kaylee kissed Matt's cheek. She had always been supportive of her husband's band and she loved his music. Matt turned to kiss the blond-haired beauty beside of him on the mouth and decided to deepen the kiss.

"Ew, get a room!" Gemma exclaimed shoving her brother slightly. When she saw him smirk she knowingly added "and NOT my room!" Matt snickered, took his wife's hand and together they left Gemma's room. Gemma and Taylor looked at each other disgusted as if they were both five-year-olds. A few seconds later though, they were both laughing and heading out of the room as well, hearing Monica calling them down for dinner.

_It's good to be home, _Gemma thought.

**If you haven't read or seen the Lord of the Rings and you want to know what **_**the door to Moria **_**is, then you can just Google it and a picture of it will surely pop up. Matthew Fall, Gemma's brother, is kind of based on Matthew Sanders aka. M. Shadows, the lead singer in my favorite band Avenged Sevenfold. The band **_**Stained Illusions **_**is also basically another version of Avenged Sevenfold. But Matt Fall is also inspired by my eldest sister who gave me my love for heavy metal music :)**


	3. Bloody Fourth-Wheel

**I may not have received any reviews or information about anyone adding my story to their favorites, but I'm still over the moon with joy when I see that someone has at least read what I've written! So I decided to post the third chapter: enjoy :) Oh, and this chapter contains swearing...**

******Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the Harry Potter universe and story belong to Joanne Kathleen Rowling and certainly not me.**

**Chapter 3**

"Matt? … Maaatt? … Matthew?! … Matt?!" As a last resort Gemma hit her brother on the head.

"Ow! What the fuck was that for?" He glared at his little sister while Monica yelled "language!" from the kitchen.

"No need to get all mad! You were staring at nothing and didn't answer me."

"What did you ask?" Matt grumbled. It was obvious that he was angry about something.

"I didn't ask you anything, you just wouldn't respond when I said your name. But I do have a question for you."

"Yeees," Matthew dragged out the word, almost threateningly.

"Why are you so tense?" Gemma deadpanned. Matthew looked at her as if the answer was obvious.

"My wife's on a bloody, fucking plane on her way to fucking America where I can't get to her before twenty bloody minutes have gone! What if something happens!? What if she gets very sick or even worse goes into labor! I'm telling you: pregnant women shouldn't be allowed to travel out of the country! It should be fucking illegal!" Matt half-yelled. Gemma had had half a mind that his sour mood was about Kaylee and she appeared to be right.

"Matthew! Language! And Kaylee will be perfectly fine and in two weeks' time she'll be back in England no differently than perhaps a bit wider than last you saw her and with a tan! There's no need for you to worry and certainly no need for you to yell at your sister!" Monica tried to comfort him while scolding him. Even though Matt was twenty-four, Monica still saw him as a rebellious teenager.

"Wait, she's coming home in two weeks already? Taylor said that they won't be home until a week before school," Gemma questioned completely unaffected by her brothers lashing out at her.

"Yes, that's true, but Kaylee's coming home earlier for _Matthew's_ sake," Monica said to Gemma though looking at Matthew.

"I just miss her," Matthew mumbled as he sat back in his seat.

"Of course you do, Mattie, but she'll be back before you know it and you don't want me to tell her that you've been crying like a baby and yelling at your sister, would you?" Monica teased, knowing that it would blow a bit of her son's pride, though make him see sense. It worked as planned and soon Matthew was back to his old happy, funny, sarcastic self – he was still cursing though, but that was something he always did no matter how many times Monica scolded him about it.

The following evening found Gemma sitting by the lit fireplace, just staring at the dancing flames. Fire had always fascinated Gemma. She wasn't pyromania; she just liked looking at fire, though Matthew would always say that there was no difference between those two facts. There was just something intriguing about the way the tongues of fire would dance elegantly, looking harmless and peaceful but truly being the opposite.

Outside the rain was pouring despite the fact that it was in the middle of June. Matthew was at his friend Jimmy's place along with the other band members, just having a good time together. Monica was reading a book and Travis was listening to the muggle news on the radio. Currently they were talking about Spain having their first democratic elections. It reminded Gemma of Jacqueline who at the time being was in Barcelona. _She's probably at the beach getting a tan while checking out the Spanish boys, _Gemma smiled to herself.

Soon the radio was playing soft jazz music instead and despite of it being early in the night, Gemma felt her eyelids become heavier. She soon jolted awake though, at the sound of something knocking on the window. She looked up to see a cute, brown barn owl tapping on the glass. Travis stood up and let the bird inside.

"Ah! It's a letter from the Potters!" The black-greyish haired man opened the letter. "_Dear Monica and Travis, we hope you've had a pleasant summer so far, despite the weather. It's incredible how it can rain in the middle of June, isn't it! Well, that's what you get for living in England, I guess."_

Travis read the entire letter out loud, chuckling under his breath now and then. The letter was mainly a friendly invitation for dinner the next day. It also said that Matthew and Gemma were more than welcome to join. Gemma though, was more than reluctant.

"Why don't you want to come?" Travis asked his daughter after she had blatantly told them that she didn't want to join them.

"It would be so incredibly boring! Not to mention awkward."

"Why would it be boring or awkward? You know James! And Sirius too," Monica said.

"No, I'm _acquainted _with them – I don't _know _them. And that's why it would be awkward."

"But you go to school with them. You see them every day, so, then how can it be awkward?" Monica asked.

"Because… Because this is different! At school we're housemates but when we're not at school we're not even mates! We're just people who know of each other's existence but nothing more!"

"But then you can _get _to know them," Travis smiled.

"Who says I _want _to get to know them," Gemma mumbled, but her parents still heard.

"Oh, come one, Gemma, don't be such a baby. Matthew will be there so it won't be boring or awkward for you; I think it'll be really fun!" Monica said.

"You do know I'm seventeen – you have no power over me," Gemma pointed out.

"As long as you live under this roof we will have power over you, Gems," Travis teased, "and even when you're not we'll still have power over you like we have power over Mattie and he's a twenty-four year old man who'll soon be a father!" Monica and Travis both chuckled and Gemma just rolled her eyes.

"Fine, I'll come. But I'm not going without a book," Gemma argued. Her parents saw it best to just let her bring a book and the discussion ceased.

The next evening at six O'clock Gemma was in her room reading _The Once And Future King, _the same book that she would be taking to the Potters. It was a book about the legendary king Arthur and Merlin. It always amused her to read muggle books about Merlin and how muggles saw him.

"Ello, Cracker!" Matt greeted as he plunked down in Gemma's bed. The golden blond girl simply nodded. "Are you ready to go yet?"

"If I'm not can I then not go?" Gemma looked up from her book with pleading eyes. Matthew laughed at his sister.

"That's not really for me to decide, sis. But why are you so reluctant about going to the Potters?"

"Ugh, do I really have to explain it to you too? I don't wanna go 'cause I barely know Potter and Black and I'd rather not be stuck with them and being a major third-wheel."

"Well, I'll be there too so I'll make sure that that won't happen."

"Yeah right. You'll probably just embarrass me," Gemma said knowing her brother.

"What are big brothers for?" Matt smirked. Gemma kicked him in the shin though not very hard. They ended up having a rough tickle fight on the floor.

"Gemma! Matthew! It's time to go!" Gemma heard Travis call up from downstairs. She groaned, pushed Matt off of her, took her book and together the siblings headed down to their waiting parents. Monica eyed Gemma's book disapprovingly, but said nothing out loud. "We'll be apparating, but seeing as you two have never been at the Potters you'll have to go side-long." Both Gemma and Matthew groaned at this statement. They hated side-long-apparation.

Gemma took a hold of her father's arm and Matthew his mother. After a moment of sickeningly twirls and a feeling of being squashed, Gemma stood in front of a large house, no, _mansion. _A long dusty road disappeared behind some hills and a small forest could be seen in the near distant. The mansion was surrounded by fields and no other houses could be seen. It was a truly beautiful place.

"Wow," Gemma heard Matthew mutter to himself. She had to agree with him though; the place really was _wow._

"Well, we better head inside," Monica ushered her family to the front door. Soon after knocking with the big brass lion doorknocker on the large wooden door, a click signaling the opening of the door could be heard.

"Hello! Come in, come in! Thomas is in the kitchen getting the food out of the oven. I hope you all like beef tenderloin," Vera Potter welcomed them.

"Mmm, it certainly smells good," Monica complimented to which Vera thanked her. The elderly woman showed her guests where to put their coats and other stuff before showing them a bit around the house. It was _huge!_

Gemma briefly wondered where James and Black were and shortly hoped that they weren't there, but when she looked out of one of the large windows of the living-room she could see them on their brooms playing one-on-one Quidditch. Vera opened the said window and called out to the boys telling them to come in. Moments later James and Black introduced themselves to Monica, Travis and Matthew. They greeted Gemma with a simple acknowledging nod and a polite "hi" which Gemma returned.

The two younger boys were at first slightly intimidated by Matthew and his tattooed, muscular arms, something only Gemma and Matthew himself noticed. Matt just chuckled under his breath at this, but soon he had erased Potter's and Black's fear and the three boys where laughing together at something Matt said.

The parents went in to the kitchen while talking and just as Gemma had predicted, she stood alone with no one to talk to except for the boys who didn't even acknowledge her.

_Okay, so I'm not a _third-_wheel, I'm a bloody _fourth_-wheel! _Gemma thought.

"You have a rock band?! That's bloody awesome!" Gemma heard Black exclaim. Matthew laughed at this and proceeded to tell the boys about his band _Stained Illusions. _The three young men got along unsurprisingly well. Matt also had a history of pranking and had even worked in the wizarding joke-shop Gambol and Japes. Because of Matt's love for pranking, Gemma had also taken a liking to it, though she hardly ever pranked anyone; she would only do it if the victim truly deserved it.

They all loved Quidditch as well. Potter was a chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team and Black was a beater. Matthew had never joined the Quidditch team in his time at Hogwarts seeing as he spent most of his time playing music with his friends. Matthew loved watching Quidditch though and occasionally he would play with his father, Travis, who had been a beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Gemma hadn't either joined the team but she too loved the sport – not as much as Taylor though, who was basically obsessed with Quidditch. Gemma just wasn't that good at playing the game. She was a surprisingly good flyer and she loved being up in the air but when it came to catching or throwing balls whilst doing it she sucked epically. She had tried being a beater but she had a terrible aim. The only position she could handle was seeker, but she nearly always lost control of her broom when having to actually catch the golden snitch.

Gemma sat down in a highly comfortable loveseat and opened her book to read. She could still hear snippets of the boys' conversation and from what she heard they were now talking about which Quidditch team was the best. Potter believed it to be Puddlemore United; Black said it was the Falmouth Falcons and Matthew declared Montrose Magpies to be the best Quidditch team. Gemma agreed with her brother but also believed that the Holyhead Harpies were just as good.

After five minutes Thomas came in stating that dinner was on the table. Gemma quickly closed her book, placed it on the mahogany coffee table and followed Thomas to the dining room along with the still discussing boys. Thomas soon joined in, supporting his son's point of view.

"Cracker, you agree with me, right?" Matt asked his sister. Gemma had half a mind to completely disagree with him but decided to support him.

"Sure. Just look at the league scores: Montrose Magpies are at the top but I think the Holyhead Harpies will knock them down soon."

"You support the Holyhead Harpies? They're only girls, they'll never win," Black said.

"And what's that supposed to mean? That girls can't play Quidditch?" Gemma raised her eyebrows (she was incapable of raising just one) at Black who replied with a "yes". "Well, the Harpies are in second place in the league – what about you're Falmouth Falcons? They're at the bottom with the Cannons aren't they?" Black glared at her when she said this.

"Well, the Falcons are the only team who know how to play actual Quidditch. All the other teams, especially the Harpies, wouldn't even hurt a fly!" The Falmouth Falcons were known for being a lot more brutal than other teams. Their motto was actually: _Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads_.

"Quidditch isn't about whose the most brutal, you know, Black."

"I have to agree with you, Gemma," Thomas smiled, "but let's not spend the whole evening bickering about Quidditch, eh?" Thomas sat down next to Travis who was already seated by the table across from Vera who sat next to Monica. Matthew took a seat beside of Thomas and Gemma seated herself next to her brother. Black and James sat down across from them.

The food on the table looked absolutely delicious and Gemma swore that she heard Matt's stomach grumble.

"Well, dig in!" Vera exclaimed and James and Black immediately piled food on to their plates not thinking about their manners. Gemma was used to it from seeing them eat as pigs in school and also after having experienced a lunch with her brother and his friends. Matthew was trying to eat more civilized but soon he too was finding it hard to not just wolf the food down. He received quite a few disgusted looks from his mother.

Conversation filled the room along with the sounds of the knives and forks hitting the plates. Gemma kept quiet, but occasionally added a comment. Soon though, the conversation turned to a graver subject and the atmosphere became darker. Gemma, James and Black all listened quietly as the adults discussed the biggest threat from the wizarding world in years. The threat came from a wizard whose name many feared to speak. Voldemort.


	4. The Order of the Phoenix

**Yay! Someones actually favorited and followed this story! Thank you SO much xXallegedangelXx! Now all I'm missing is a review from smoebody (hint, hint!) I don't really care if you just right "hey" or something utterly useless - I just want to know if my story is woth taking the time to review! But here's chapter 4! This chapter contains swearing..**

******Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the Harry Potter universe and story belong to Joanne Kathleen Rowling and certainly not me.**

**Chapter 4**

When Gemma was little she would never think about consequences. She would never think about her world crumbling around her. She would always wish that she could grow up fast and travel to foreign places. She would never have guessed that her life would become filled with fear. She would never have guessed that she would grow up to see war, but that it what happened.

Some wizards and witches believed that muggles weren't just people without magical abilities, no, they didn't even see them as people; just creatures. Creatures that didn't deserve life. They believed that magic should be kept between special and worthy people and all others should be exterminated. Voldemort was one of these people. His plan wasn't just to kill all the muggles, but also wizards and witches with muggle ancestors. All that defied him would of course also be murdered. This meant that muggleborns, or _mudbloods _as Voldemort would call them would die, muggles would die, some half-bloods would die and all those who were what they called blood-traitors.

Gemma and Matthew were half-bloods but both their parents were muggleborns. And seeing as none of them shared Voldemort's thoughts the Fall family would not survive if Voldemort had it his way. The Potters were purebloods but were known for being bloodtraitors so they too would be murdered. But the Black family was an old pureblood family who looked upon all those less than purebloods as scum. Sirius Black was one of the odd exceptions. That's why he ran away from his family; he had the opposite opinion.

But as the conversation topic turned to the war Sirius couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He may have been disowned by his mother but it was still his own family – his own flesh and blood - who were killing innocent people.

"It's getting worse," Thomas stated darkly. "The ministry's of course trying to calm everyone down by hushing it all up, but there have been more and more mysterious murders, vanishings and destroyed buildings." Thomas had once been an auror but because of age and some problems with his health he had retired.

"But it can't go on like this, can it? Sooner or later you-know-who must be defeated, I mean, he can't continue killing innocent people in this awful way!" Monica said.

"I wish that was true, Monica, but he's more powerful than you think – probably even more powerful than what _we_ think – and he's got too many followers," Vera notified. It was true. Voldemort had gathered hundreds of wizards and witches who called themselves Death Eaters.

"But then we must gather followers too! Instead of just leaving it to the aurors, civil wizards who want to help defeat you-know-who should be able to help! There's no point in doing nothing while these godforsaken people kill innocent men, women and children!" Travis said.

"Yeah, there should be some kind of assembly you could join if you want to bring you-know-who down!" Matthew seconded his dad.

"But wouldn't that be too dangerous? If you-know-who knows about such an 'assembly' all the members would surely be targeted and killed!" Monica said.

"We'll all get killed if no-one dares to lift there fucking asses and help out!" Matthew raised his voice just a bit.

"Matthew! Watch your mouth!" Monica scolded, slightly embarrassed that her own son had such language.

Vera and Thomas looked secretively at each other, silently agreeing about something, but only Gemma took notice of it. Suddenly Vera turned to look at Gemma.

"Gemma, darling, you are seventeen, aren't you?" Gemma was confused as to why that was of importance but nodded. Vera looked then at Monica and Travis.

"We have something of great importance to tell you. James was already told when he was thirteen and Sirius also knows, and seeing as Gemma is seventeen she too may be told. Perhaps you have heard of it before, so I would like to ask you: have you ever heard of The Order of the Phoenix?"

After dessert the eight people were seated in the living-room, the parents talking together; Matt, Sirius and James were joking around and Gemma was reading in her book. The conversation they had had at the dinner table was still in her mind though. Her parents along with Matthew had agreed to join a half-secret-order, The Order of the Phoenix. It was Gemma's headmaster, Albus Dumbledore who had created the order and their sole purpose was to defeat Voldemort and his followers. As soon as Vera and Thomas had told them about it, Matthew was eager to join.

"I don't want my baby to grow up in a world of war so I'll do everything I can to make sure it doesn't happen," was what he had said. Monica was nearly in tears and it suddenly hit Gemma that he really was an adult. He always acted like a teenager but he had in fact matured and had now made the decision to bring down Voldemort or die trying. For the risk of dying was greater than anyone would have liked.

Monica and Travis also agreed to join the order and even Gemma had said that she wanted to join but to this Thomas shook his head. "One of the few rules is that the order members have to have graduated from Hogwarts. Seeing as you still have a year to go, you cannot join yet," he had explained. Gemma found this rule unfair ("I'm seventeen and according to the wizarding law, you become an adult with your own rights at the age seventeen, so I should be allowed to join the order!") and it was clear that James and Sirius too disagreed with the age-limit.

But when it was time for dessert the adults agreed that there should be no more talk of the war and no-one had mentioned it again.

"Are you really going to spend the entire evening reading, Cracker?" Matt asked as he sat down next to his sister. Potter and Black sat down as well.

"Cracker?" Black questioned. "Why'd you call her Cracker?"

"Because when I was ten and she three I thought that Gemma was too girly a name, so I decided to give her a nickname. She was _obsessed _with cookies and crackers and somehow always managed to get a hold of some to eat. I'm telling you, it's a wonder she's not even fatter," Gemma shoved her brother when he said this, "But well, I needed to give her a nickname and while I pondered over this Cracker was crying because mum had taken the jar of biscuits from her. But when mum wasn't looking, Cracker grabbed the jar, though too quickly, and it fell onto the floor. It didn't break entirely but there was a big crack in the jar and that's when it hit me: I should call her Cracker! And when I told her she just began giggling so I took that as a yes," Matthew finished his story. Both James and Black were chuckling and Gemma's ears grew increasingly redder.

_I knew he would end up embarrassing me, _Gemma thought. But she wouldn't let him embarrass her without her getting a bit of embarrassment out of him in return.

"But I guess Cracker is a better nickname than Mattie-poo," Gemma smirked as she saw her brother's ears go redder.

"Yeah, it's safe to say that I'm better at creating nicknames than mum." To this they all laughed.

"Hey, have you and Kaylee thought of any names for the baby yet?"

"Nahh, not really. Well, Kaylee's always liked the name Elijah," Matthew said, pronouncing the 'j' as 'sh' instead of pronouncing the name as 'Eliah'. "But that's a boy's name and we don't want to know the sex of the baby before he or she is born."

"If it's a boy I think you should name him James," James, of course, said. Matthew chuckled at this.

"You know, one of my friend's name is James." James's face lit up at this statement. "But we always call him Jimmy – he plays the drums, but also sings back up and sometimes he even plays the piano." James's face toned down a bit at the mentioning of Matthew's friend being called Jimmy.

"He wrote _Demons, _didn't he?" Gemma asked.

"Yep."

"I love that song," Gemma smiled, while thinking of the melody in her head.

"D'you like heavy metal music?" Black asked.

"Love it," Gemma grinned. She could see the chock printed on Potter's and Black's faces. She loved the reactions she got when she told people that she loved heavy metal music.

"Y-you… But… But you… don't seem like the type to like such music," Black stuttered.

"So?" Gemma asked teasingly. Matthew was laughing and patted his sister's back.

"Yeah, I corrupted her when she was little."

"Yeah, but I never was a girly girl, was I?"

"Unless being a girly girl involves finding different ways to kill your plastic doll, playing in the dirt, riding brooms, hating pink, loving motorbikes and Ferraris, then I guess no, you never were much of a girly girl."

"You like motorbikes?" Black asked. He was surprised to suddenly find out that the quiet girl who loved reading and never got in to trouble apparently had a whole other side to her.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about getting one myself, but I don't think I've got the money, and there is no way that mum and dad will ever pay for it." Black grinned but his smile turned into a smirk.

"You know, I already have a motorbike."

"You do?!" Gemma and Matthew both exclaimed. Matthew too had always wanted a motorbike but couldn't afford one. He had to pay for his own apartment and soon a baby after all, and his current carrier situation didn't earn him much money. The Falls weren't poor but they certainly weren't rich. They got by but they couldn't afford a lot of luxury.

"Yep. It's outside, but I'm repairing it at the moment. And adding… certain stuff," Sirius said, obviously hinting that the 'certain stuff' weren't normally added to a motorbike. "Do you wanna see it?"

"Sure," Matthew replied. And so, the teenagers and the young man headed outside to check out Black's motorcycle. It was a Triumph Bonneville T120 from 1959 and it was quite large. The bike was visibly old but according to Black it just needed a hand and some cleansing and it would be good as new again ("better than new actually," Black said, again hinting to something.)

"So what are the stuff you're going to add?" Matt asked.

"Well, James and I were thinking that a side-car would come in handy, but we're planning to put a charm on the bike as well."

"What kind of charm?" Gemma questioned.

"Oh, just a levitating charm," Black replied as if it were no great deal. "We want it to be able to fly."

"That's fucking awesome!" Matthew exclaimed. Gemma too found it quite cool but she still had her doubts about the idea.

"You do know that it's illegal to cast charms or spells on muggle artifacts, don't you?" Black smiled at this comment. _There's the Fall I know._

"Yeah, but who says the ministry's gonna find out?" He and Potter smirked.

"Touché."

Matthew examined the bike closer and Black told him more about his and Potter's plans. Even though Gemma loved motorbikes and found how their machines worked absolutely fascinating, she didn't want to give Black the satisfaction of fawning over something that belonged to him. Instead she admired the landscape and the peace and quiet. The sun was out of sight, hidden behind a hill, yet its light still covered the sky with a red glow. _It would really be wonderful to live here, _the tall girl mused.

"So, are you jealous of my bike?" Black teased, coming to stand next to her. Gemma looked up at him. She was tall for a girl but Black was still a great deal taller than her.

"Yes, it nearly brings tears to my eyes how jealous I am," she replied sarcastically. It reminded them both of the little 'play' they had made the last Wednesday. Black had always thought of Gemma as the goody-two-shoes, book-worm who from time to time came with witty and sarcastic remarks. He had therefore been greatly surprised when he found out about her 'darker side'. _If only he knew that I prank as well, _Gemma thought.

Around 11 O'clock Monica and Travis decided to go home. The young people had spent the rest of the evening talking, though Gemma had mostly just listened. Black and Potter were quite reluctant to see Matthew leave seeing as he was in the middle of explaining a prank that he and his friends had once pulled on the Slytherin house. Gemma was amused by how much her fellow Gryffindors had liked her brother. A part of her was afraid though, that when they returned to school, Black and Potter would pester her about Matthew and constantly question how his life was going.

Gemma sighed after drinking a much needed glass of water and leaned up against the kitchen counter. The evening hadn't been as bad as she had predicted, but she was immensely glad to be home again.

"So, was it really that bad an evening?" Matthew entered the kitchen.

"No, it wasn't _that _bad. You're going to nag me about that for a while, aren't you?" she added knowingly.

"Probably."

"So, are you staying here tonight or going home?"

"Home. I'm a twenty-four-year-old man; it wouldn't look good on me if I stayed at my parents' house, now would it?" Gemma laughed at her brother.

"Well then, goodnight, Matt!"

"'Night, Cracker!" Matt poked his sister's nose and left the kitchen to say goodbye to his parents. Gemma went upstairs and got ready for bed while mentally telling herself that she would write to the girls in the morning_. Or maybe just Lily_, she told herself as an afterthought. Gemma had already received a letter from her ginger-friend and knew better than to not answer within a par of days. Lily had nearly sent her howler the last time that had happened.

**Thank you for reading :D Oh, and the song _Demons _is a real song by Avenged Sevenfold and it is one of my many favorite songs :) and 'Jimmy' was the drummer in Avenged Sevenfold. It pains my heart to say, though, that _James_ _Owen_ _Sullivan _aka. Jimmy or The Rev, died in December 2009. RIP The Rev :(**


	5. Magical Mushrooms

**Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the Harry Potter universe and story belong to Joanne Kathleen Rowling and certainly not me.**

**Chapter 5**

Gemma's summer was spent mostly in peace, but the war would sometimes weigh the happy mood down. Her parents and brother had been at a few order meetings but had not yet actually faced the Death Eaters, something that Gemma was more than glad for. But sometimes the Daily Prophet would cause complete silence in the Fall house as news of vanishings and deaths were read out loud.

Gemma enjoyed not having the pressure of schoolwork on her back. She would be entering her NEWT year though, and she knew that it would certainly not be easy. The tall girl found herself missing her friends at times though. She even missed bickering with the boys in her year. But the summer filled with reading, relaxing and lots of music (she had even been allowed to hang out with Matt and his friends a few times, which had been exceedingly fun) passed by quickly and when Gemma looked back upon the summer holidays she felt that all of the days melted into one.

The last week before the return to Hogwarts marked Taylor's homecoming day. The four girls had planned to go to Diagon Alley together, to catch up, buy their school stuff and other needed things, and simply to have a good time in the presence of the others.

"Taylor!" Lily, Jackie and Gemma squealed in unison as they saw their best friends approach the wizarding bank, Gringotts. They ran towards each other and collided in a big group hug.

"God, you are SO tan! I envy you so much," Lily said as they pulled away.

"Yeah, I reckon America's summer has been a bit sunnier than England's," she said with a hint of a southern American accent in her voice as she looked up at the nearly clear sky. It was a fairly nice day, for England at least.

"Unless sunny means 'a fair few grey clouds and loads of rain' than I reckon you're right," Jacqueline said.

"Like you can complain – you were in Spain for two weeks!" Gemma exclaimed.

"Oh right! How was it?" Lily asked.

"Absolutely awesome! We spent a lot of the time on the beach or at the pool, but we also saw a lot of cool stuff. We visited this museum with all these trophies and stuff from some muggle sport called 'sucker' or 'bootball' or something – the tour guide had a bit of an accent – but there were these _extremely _hot guys down there! I mean, I would give _anything _for one of the guys at Hogwarts to be as hot as the Spanish guys," Jackie told her friends. She was a half-blood but didn't know much about muggle sports, so her friends merely smiled as Jackie said 'sucker' and 'bootball'.

"I was waiting for you to bring up the guys," Gemma teased knowingly.

"And for the record, Jackie, it's _soccer_ and _football_ – not 'sucker' and 'bootball'," Taylor, who loved all kinds of sports, informed her unknowing friend.

The girls traded stories about their summers, though Taylor and Jackie had the most to say. Gemma told about the dinner she had spent at the Potters and her friends all laughed when Gemma told them about the boys' reactions when they found out she liked heavy metal music. Lily complained about her older muggle sister, Petunia, who thought of Lily as a freak. Petunia had in November, last year, begun dating a man at the size of a walrus, according to Lily, by the name Vernon Dursely ("what an ugly name," they had all agreed.) Lily also had the exciting, though expected, news of having become the Head Girl at Hogwarts. The best friends all wondered who the Head Boy might be.

Taylor and Gemma had already written to their friend's about soon becoming aunts, but the fact that Kaylee and Matt were having a baby was also a topic of discussion as the girls bought their school stuff and other needed gears. They all laughed as they thought about Matthew having to handle a crying baby.

"Ooo, can we go to _Quality Quidditch Supplies_?" Taylor asked eagerly. Her suggestion was met with two 'no's' and a shrug. "Come on! We went _to Madam Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions _for your sake Jackie, why can't we check out some Quidditch stuff for my sake?" The name _Primpernelle _had many times caused Gemma to break out laughing. The shop itself caused her and Taylor to nearly cry from laughing too hard. Neither of them was into make-up and such, so they found girly shops absolutely hilarious. Jackie and Lily had given them many disapproving glares though.

"Fine, we can go to _Quality Quidditch Supplies _but don't be mad at me if I have to leave early or if I fall down on the floor in laughter," Jackie said mock-angry, referring to the incident in the beauty shop.

"What's to laugh about in a Quidditch shop?" Taylor muttered.

After twenty minutes of looking at brooms and supplies Jackie and Lily dragged Taylor out of the shop while Gemma laughed. She had found it fun to check out the new brooms and looking and listening to the Quidditch obsessed people fawn upon the newest broom was hilarious.

"Okay, now that Jackie's had her wish come true and Taylor too, how about we visit Gambol and Japes to fulfill my wish as well?" Gemma suggested though well-knowing that the girls wouldn't agree. She was greatly surprised though.

"Sure!" Gemma, Taylor and Jackie all stared at Lily in wonder.

"That was sarcasm wasn't it?" Taylor asked, not having believed her ears.

"No, I want to go to Gambol and Japes," Lily stated. Jackie's mouth was wide open and Gemma looked at Taylor questioningly.

"Am I dead?"

"No, you're not dead, Gemma! What's so weird about me wanting to visit a joke shop?" Lily knew though that it was more than weird, but she enjoyed the reactions she was getting. She wasn't messing with them though. "We went there to see Matt once when he worked there and it was pretty fun wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it was," Jackie agreed, slowly coming out of her shocked state.

"So, let's get going!" Lily laughed.

"I never thought I'd see the day that Lily Evans and Jacqueline Edmondson would willingly enter a joke shop," Gemma shook her head disbelievingly.

The girls spent quite a while in the shop, laughing at all the weird creations. Most of the time they would point at stuff and imagine using them on the Marauders. Lily thoroughly enjoyed herself while thinking of hundreds of ways to completely humiliate Potter to the point where he wouldn't even dare show his face in public, thus never showing his face to Lily ever again. But her good mood was ruined when exactly the boy whose face she never wished to see was in the exact same shop as her.

"Girls! We have to get out of here right now!" Lily said to her friends hoping that Potter hadn't seen her.

"But I thought you were having fun in here," Gemma said, wondering why Lily had a sudden change of heart.

"I just saw Potter!" Lily explained. It suddenly dawned to the three other girls what Lily was going at.

"And where Potter is, the other Marauders are too," Jackie said.

"We've gotta get out of here," Taylor continued.

"Now," Gemma finished. And so the four girls did their best to hurry out of the crowded shop. They did find it quite comically though and couldn't help but laugh at their situation. But as Gemma laughed she accidently tripped over her own feet – yes, she was _that _clumsy. It didn't hurt much and she reckoned she only had a few scratches on her knees. The three other girls looked back at her worriedly. But Gemma, being Gemma, stretched out her arm and over-dramatically half-yelled: "Run, girls, run! Save yourselves while you still can! Don't think about me, just run!"

Taylor, Jackie and Lily knew that their friend would be alright so they did as she had told them and hurriedly left the shop just as Black approached Gemma.

"Have a nice fall, Fall?" Gemma rolled over so she was sitting on the floor facing Sirius Black.

"I swear, that was even worse than the 'Sirius'-puns. But yes, I had a nice fall – see ya next trip!"

"What the hell are you on?" Black eyed the girl on the floor warily.

"Magical mushrooms," the tangled-haired girl smiled like a crazy five-year-old.

"Really?" Black's eyebrows rose.

"What do you think?" Gemma rolled her eyes and stood up. Her entire face was red, partly from the attention she had gotten when she had fallen; partly because of laughing and partly because she suddenly realized that she and Black were standing fairly close. She pretended to absentmindedly take a step back as an awkward silence filled the air between them.

"So… How's Matthew?" Black tried to break the silence. Gemma sensed that he was trying to make small talk about such a lousy topic as her brother.

"Great," she replied simply. "But I've gotta go, so cheerio!" And with that Gemma darted towards the door to Diagon Alley. She faintly heard Potter ask Black about something to do with her emerald-green-eyed friend, Lily, and she laughed to herself. Taylor, Jackie and Lily were standing together on the other side of the Alley so Gemma ran over to them and Lily over-dramatically threw her arms around the golden-blond girl.

"Thank god, you're alive!" All of the girls laughed.

"Yes, I thank god, if he's there, a million times for letting me get out alive. But Black may think that we're on magical mushrooms," Gemma smiled.

"Yeah, well, I don't blame him," Taylor joked. The girls laughed again and started to walk down the alley.

"Hey, now that you've all had a wish granted isn't it my turn?" Lily asked.

"I suppose," Jackie answered.

"Well then, I doubt anyone's going to complain about visiting the ice cream parlor!" And indeed, no complaints were heard as the girls hurried on to _Florean_ _Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor_.

"Hmm, I wonder if they have any ice creams with magical mushrooms in them," Gemma couldn't help but say. Her friends laughed and proceeded to choose which ice cream they wanted. Gemma already knew what she wanted: a big chocolate-frog-mint-ice-cream with Sherbet Lemons on it. Lily soon decided that she wanted a cauldron-cake-fudge-ice-cream and Jackie ordered a raspberry-Bertie-Botts-Every-Flavored-Beans-ice-cr eam. Taylor settled for an ice cream with liquorish wands.

The seventh-year-Gryffindor's decided to sit down instead of walking around with their ice creams. They hadn't had a chance to sit for a while and they all agreed that they needed it. Gemma checked the black and gold watch she had been given at her seventeenth birthday. She gasped when she saw that they had been in Diagon Alley for nearly five hours. And the only food they had gotten were a few sweets and now their ice creams. The other girls grinned sheepishly when Gemma told them this.

"So, how many classes will you guys be taking this year?" asked Jackie.

"Umm, Charms, Defense, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, so seven," Lily answered, counting off the subjects on her fingers. "I'm tired of having to stay up late for Astronomy, Divination is an absolute joke, as well as History of Magic and I don't really need Muggle Studies, do I?"

"Seven?" Jackie repeated. "I'm only taking four."

"And which are they?" Taylor asked to which Jackie answered Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination and Herbology. "I'm taking Defense, Potions, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures and Astronomy – wait, am I the only one taking Astronomy?" Taylor asked. The other three girls nodded.

"Yeah, I find stars absolutely brilliant but I don't need to know every little detail about every little one of them – I'd rather leave something to my imagination. And besides, I'm tired of listening to the Marauders and Black's fan girls giggle and laugh every single time the star Sirius is mentioned," Gemma said and the other girls agreed.

"So which subjects are you taking, Gems?" Lily asked.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions and Ancient Runes. Plants hate me and I hate plants so that rules out Herbology. Only very few animals like me so that rules out Care of Magical Creatures as well. Divination as you said, Lils, is an absolute joke and I don't really need Muggle Studies either, do I? Matt's been bugging me about taking Muggle Music though, as always, but I'd still rather listen to music than learn about it and I'm bloody awful at singing or playing any given instrument."

"You are most defiantly _not _awful at singing, Gemma!" Taylor exclaimed. Gemma stared at her friend in wonder.

"And when on earth have you heard me sing?" Taylor grinned sheepishly.

"Matt taped you singing about a year ago and showed it to Kaylee and me… But you really are good!" Gemma was already thinking of ways to get back at her brother and didn't listen to Taylor's complement. She wouldn't have believed it anyways.

"I wanna hear you sing! Please, pretty please?" Jackie begged her friend who simply glared at her.

"No. End of discussion, goodbye!" Gemma didn't leave the table though, but the girls didn't continue pestering her.

When their ice creams were all eaten and gone, the girls decided it was time to go home. They weren't going separate ways though, as Taylor had invited the others over for a slumber-party. Needless to say, they didn't sleep much that night.

After a week had passed, Thursday marked the first of September meaning that it was time to return to Hogwarts. Gemma was both looking forward to going back but was also slightly reluctant. She and Taylor were both really sad over the fact that Kaylee would be giving birth around October while they were in school, so they wouldn't see their niece or nephew before Christmas. But time would pass by quickly and soon they would be wishing that the months and years hadn't blown by so fast.

**I was slightly hyper (too much sugar - no magical mushrooms were involved) when I wrote this chapter, so please excuse me if it was a bit weird and rushed. I might go back and rewrite at some time. But **_**please **_**tell me what you think about the story up until now. As everybody else, I want to become a better writer and your thoughts and ideas could really be a great help :)**


	6. Doubting of Manhood

**Seeing as I got my first review today (YAY!) I've decided to post another chapter. **

**Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the Harry Potter universe and story belongs to Joanne Kathleen Rowling and certainly not me.**

**Chapter 6**

A group of four weeded their way through the crowd on what seemed to be a normal Thursday on Kings Cross Station in London. But it was the 1st of September meaning that hundreds of young witches and wizards would show up to catch their train to Hogwarts.

The two of the people in the small group were a wizard and witch in their twenties. The wizard had short black hair and tattooed, muscular arms. The witch had wavy blond hair and a big belly. The two others in the group were seventeen year old girls, on their way to catch the Hogwarts Express. One of them had shoulder-length wavy brown hair and quite a few pimples, the other had longish golden hair and sideways bangs. Along with them was a cat by the name Waffle and an owl named Crethon, both in cages on top of two separate trunks on two trolleys.

To the muggle eye, large trunks and owls were not a commonly seen thing. Neither was people simply vanishing into a brick pillar, but luckily these sights were never taken notice of in a muggle's eyes – if they were, the wizarding world would surely have a lot of trouble.

"Taylor! Gemma! We're over here!" Gemma, the golden blond girl, heard someone yell among the bustling crowd of platform 9 ¾. She turned her head to see a flaming red-headed girl waving at her, along with a young witch whose hair had a honey-color.

"Oh, Taylor; Lily and Jackie are over there," Gemma pointed at the two waving girls. And so Taylor Moore, Gemma, Matthew and Kaylee Fall headed over to Lily Evans and Jacqueline Edmondson. The four teenagers hugged each other and said their hellos.

"Wow, you've grown pretty big, eh?" Jackie commented Kaylee who smiled.

"Yes, but thankfully I'll be flat again in about a month or so, and this hell will be over," she said.

"Oh, I don't think it's been hell. The mood-swings were very funny in particular," Matthew teased, though he was only met with a death-glare from his wife.

"Do you _want _to sleep on the couch again?" The married couple continued to playfully bicker at each other.

"So, Lils, do you know yet who the Head Boy is?" Gemma asked, pointedly looking at the Head Girl badge on Lily's robes.

"No, but I'll find out soon. I have to sit in the prefect's compartment again and I'll find out then. But I reckon it's Remus or Manfred Macmillan, the Hufflepuff prefect."

"Oh, he's the guy with the golden curls isn't he?" Jackie eagerly asked to which Lily nodded. "He is so cute!" Jackie squealed.

"Well, you girls better get on the train soon!" Kaylee said after 'winning' the slightly pointless argument with Matt. Taylor and she hugged while Matthew went over to his sister and lifted her in a hug as well.

"See ya' at Christmas, Cracker! Oh, and make sure you're not _too _much of a goody-too-shoes as always – cause some havoc in your final year at Hogwarts, will ya?!"

"Sure, and get expelled right before my NEWT exams," Gemma replied sarcastically.

"Well, maybe not _that_ much havoc," Matthew grinned.

"See ya, Matt! And good luck with the band! And the… Bird Club.." Gemma added, though not sure if she was allowed to mention the Order in public, so therefore settled with just calling it 'the Bird Club'. But Matt understood what she had meant and winked at her.

"Thank you, Cracker! Now be gone!" He joked. They both laughed and Gemma quickly hugged Kaylee goodbye before hurrying onto the train with her friends.

"See you later, Lily!" Taylor, Jackie and Gemma said to their friend who would be sitting in the prefect's compartment for the beginning of the trip, walking on a patrol later on and then finally come to sit and talk with her friends.

The three Gryffindor girls headed down the train while looking for an empty compartment. They saw some of their fellow seventh-years and greeted them along the way, as well as some of the students in the years below them.

"Hey, let's sit here," Jackie pointed at an empty compartment. They helped each other lift their hand baggage up on the luggage rack. They had handed their large trunks to the wizards at the station. Gemma seated herself at the window as she always did and Taylor sat down in front of her with her cat, Quaffle, purring in her lap. Jackie took a seat next to Taylor and absentmindedly stroked Quaffle's head.

"I still can't believe that we're seventh years," she mused.

"Yeah, it seems like only a year ago we were all small, stupid first years who would 'ooh' and 'ahh' at every little thing about Hogwarts," Taylor agreed. Gemma chuckled.

"I remember how we would always try to be independent and not stick to Kaylee and Matt, but we always failed and ended up hanging out with them and their friends."

"Yeah, they hated us for that, didn't they?"

"Do you guys remember how we all met?" Jackie asked. They all broke into laughter as they remembered the incident that had brought them together.

_Gemma was in a nearly full compartment with her older brother, a seventh-year Gryffindor, named Matthew, and his friends. She had met several of the boys before and they all treated her as if she was their little sister. But she had never met some of Matt's other friends: two of the Gryffindor seventh-year girls, Clary Ravenyard and Kaylee Moore. Gemma had a suspicion that Matt and Kaylee had tiny crushes on each other. _

_Matt was trying to convince Gemma to go and make some new friends, but she was quite shy and hated small talk which was mostly a great part of making new friends._

_But suddenly, a girl around Gemma's age, with messy brown hair entered the compartment._

"_Kaylee! I've lost Quaffle! He's gone!" The girl exclaimed. _

"_What? You got him a week ago and you've already lost him?" Kaylee asked the girl who Gemma presumed was her little sister._

"_It's not my fault he ran away! But have you seen him?"_

"_No, Taylor, we haven't seen any cats and certainly not Quaffle." The girl, Taylor, visibly saddened. _

"_Hey, Cracker, why don't you help Kaylee's sis find her cat?" Matthew whispered in Gemma's ear. She found it a great way to make a friend so agreed to this idea._

"_Umm, I can help you find him if you want," Gemma nervously smiled._

"_Will you?" Taylor asked._

"_Yeah, it's awkward hanging out with this lot anyways." The seventh years chuckled at this comment._

"_Well, I'd appreciated your help. I'm Taylor by the way. Taylor Moore," Taylor stuck out her hand politely._

"_I'm Gemma Fall." And thus the two girls left the compartment to find Taylor's light brown cat, Quaffle. Whilst doing so Taylor explained why she had named him Quaffle._

"_I _really _love Quidditch, you see, and I believe you should name your pets after things you love, but Quidditch is kind of a weird name for a cat, don't you think? And so, I decided to name him Quaffle. Kaylee thinks it's a weird name, but she doesn't love Quidditch as much as I do. But another reason why I named him Quaffle is because I also love waffles and Quaffle rimes with waffle!" They both laughed at this. "Do you have any pets?"_

"_Yeah, I have an owl named Crethon. He's called Crethon because… Because I think Crethon is a cool name." Again, they both laughed. _

_After asking around in a couple of compartments they heard a girl loudly saying: "Sev, stay still! I can't get its claws out of your hair if you keep on moving!"_

_Gemma and Taylor looked at each other questioningly and decided to check out what was happening. Inside of the compartment was a honey-color-haired girl sitting by the door trying to suppress a smile while watching a red-headed girl try to get a light brown cat out of the black, greasy and tangled hair of a hook-nosed boy._

"_Quaffle!" Taylor exclaimed and rushed forwards to get her feisty kitten's claws out of the young boy's hair. Together with the red-headed girl they finally managed to detangle the claws from the shoulder-length hair after a minute. "Oh, I am _so, so _sorry!" Taylor frantically apologized. The boy only grunted in response. _

"_It's not your fault," the ginger girl said politely. "Though I would advise keeping an eye on your cat – he's really cute though." Taylor blushed but thanked the girl._

"_I think I'll go to the bathroom and check if I have any scars thanks to that bloody cat!" And with that the boy left the compartment._

"_Oh, I'm sorry about Severus. We were just in another compartment with a couple of stupid and arrogant boys who said some mean stuff to us, so he's probably just still ticked off about that. I'm Lily Evans by the way," the red-head added. The four girls all introduced themselves. The beautiful honey-color-haired girl was named Jacqueline Edmonson. They talked and laughed for the rest of the train-ride and Severus Snape, the angry boy, also joined their compartment again, but didn't say anything for the rest of the trip._

_And as fate would have it, the four girls were all sorted into the same house, Gryffindor, and therefor had to share a dorm together. But all because of Quaffle, they had come off to a surprisingly good start and they all had a laugh about the incident on their first night at Hogwarts. Lily felt a little bad though, seeing as it had technically been her best friend they had laughed about._

"I would give nearly anything for Quaffle to attack that ruddy Snape again," Jackie mused. Lily and Snape hadn't been friends since the ending of their fifth year where he had called her a Mudblood.

"Along with a bludger," Taylor joked and they all laughed at this.

After about an hour of talking and laughing the compartment door opened and there in its place stood half of the infamous Marauders. Both Potter and Remus were missing.

"Where's the rest of your 'gang'?" Jackie asked Black.

"Oh, they're at the prefect's meeting," Black replied as if it were no great deal.

"Both of them?" Taylor questioned.

"Oh, so you haven't heard the good news! That's surprising since you could hear Evans' yelling about a mile away," he smirked. Gemma hated it when he smirked. Partly because it meant he was up to something but also because it made him look so mischievous and goddamn hot. _Wow, where'd that come from? _Gemma thought. But then again, there was no denying that Black was indeed, not a sight for sore eyes – the worst part was that he knew this himself, and never failed to take advantage of it.

"So would you mind telling us what this 'good news' is?" Gemma asked.

"Oh, nothing more than Prongs being the new Head Boy," he said again as if it were no big deal. But it certainly was a big deal and it left all three of the girls with open mouths, though with no words to say.

"Lily must have had a heart attack," Taylor said finally coming out of her shocked state. Jackie and Gemma both nodded absentmindedly.

"I don't think so – she didn't seem to have any trouble with yelling at James," Pettigrew spoke. He usually didn't say much and left it to Potter and Black to amuse everyone. The result was, when he did speak, his comments were often met with silence.

"But what brings you to our compartment, Black?" Taylor voiced the question that had been on Jackie and Gemma's minds ever since he and Pettigrew opened the door.

"The answer is simple, Moore: Boredom."

"Why don't you find a girl to snog?" Jackie asked.

"Not in the mood. But I'm surprised you haven't hooked up with some bloke yet, Edmondson. Don't you usually spend most of the train ride snogging some poor guy?" It was true that Jackie got more around than the rest of the girls, but she also had the possibility with her good looks and lovely personality. Yet, Black's comment was over the line, according to Gemma. Jackie didn't seem care though.

"How would you know when you're usually trying to get into the pants of some poor girl?" Gemma smiled at this comment.

"Oh, you're in a mood, eh? Is it 'the time of the month'?"

"Ugh, Black, if you're not in here for any other reason than pure boredom, then please, do us a favor and leave," Gemma said not wanting to listen to him and Jackie bitching about each other for the rest of the trip.

"But I thought you enjoyed my company, Fall. Your brother did," Black smirked. Gemma made a look of disgust.

"Do you have any idea how wrong that sounded?" According to the look on Black's face, he apparently had not noticed this. It was now Gemma's turn to smirk. "I respect your choice in life, Black, but I never would have guessed that you're gay."

"I'm not gay!" Black immediately responded.

"Whatever you say, Black, whatever you say," Gemma continued to tease him.

"It's not very gay to have a motorbike, now is it?" was Black's feeble attempt of retorting.

"You know, Black, it's kind of girly to need objects to show how manly you are," Gemma smirked. She was truly enjoying seeing Black's discomfort.

"Oh, would you just shut up with your stupid, witty comments!" He half-yelled at Gemma who snickered.

"I will if you get out of our compartment."

"Fine. You lot are pissing me off anyways!"

"You have no idea how happy you saying that, makes me!" But Black and Pettigrew had left (Black showing a less polite finger) before she had finished her sentence. She and the girls all laughed at Black's frustration and when Lily entered the compartment, angry about Potter, they made her laugh as well as the retold what had happened.

"Who knew that you, Gemma Fall, the usually quiet, reading and innocent girl would be the one to piss of Sirius Black?" Lily had said after wiping her eyes from tears of laughter.

"Oh, but the quiet, reading innocent girl is just one of my many sides, my friend. I can be the devil's little sister when I want to be."

**First of all: I have no problems AT ALL with people being homosexual. One of my best friend's parents are actually lesbians. **

**I'm not entirely sure what to think of this chapter. I surely don't think that it's one of my best. But I thought that you should know how the girls all met each other and, well, the whole witty discussion with Sirius just kind of escaped my fingers. I'm just not sure if it did Sirius and Gemma's characters justice, but tell me what you think! :D**


	7. The Charms Book

******Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the Harry Potter universe and story belongs to J. K. Rowling. **

**Chapter 7**

A week at Hogwarts had passed. A week of many lectures of how their final year was upon them thus NEWTs exams 'just around the corner'. The seventh years had already received a great deal of homework, and some felt forced to spend their first Saturday afternoon working on it.

"Do any of you guys have my Charms book? I can't find it," Lily told the other three girls at the table in the library.

"No, haven't seen it," they all replied. Lily frowned. She had tried losing her books and other stuff before, as she tended to forget where she had put them, and she was starting to get greatly tired of finding that her things had gone missing.

"You can borrow mine though; I'm already done with the Charms essay," Gemma handed Lily her charms book.

"Thanks. I just don't get why it's gone all of a sudden. I swear I remember seeing it on my bedside table just yesterday."

"Maybe it fell to the floor and you didn't notice it," Jackie wondered out loud. This had actually happened before. Lily had had all of the girls looking for her potions essay when Gemma thought of just using the spell 'Accio'. And it flew into her open hand from under Lily's bed.

"I'll check when we get back to the common room."

"Can't we go back now? I'm sick and tired of writing this Herbology essay," Jacqueline complained.

"You can go back if you wish, but I really want to get started on my Charms homework," Lily replied not looking up from Gemma's charms book.

"Anyone else want to go back to the common room with me? Or outside maybe?"

"Sure, I'm done with the astronomy chart anyways. You coming or staying, Gems?" Taylor rolled her astronomy chart together and began packing her things.

"Coming. I don't think I'll get any further with this stupid, bloody potions essay anyways. Is it okay I if we leave you, Lils?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. You can just go and I'll give you back your book later," Lily smiled at her friends to assure them that she was okay with sitting in the library alone. And so Gemma packed her stuff together as well as Jackie and Taylor, before leaving the nearly empty library. On their way out though, they saw none other than James Potter entering. The girls looked at each other questioningly.

"Why is Potter going in to the library?" asked Taylor. The two other girls shrugged.

"No idea. I'm surprised he even knows where the library is," Jackie remarked.

"But I'm guessing that he's not going in there to study," Gemma reckoned. And she guessed right.

James Potter had been joking around with his best friends in the Gryffindor common room. The full moon had been two weeks ago and Remus, who was a werewolf, was back on top. Black, Pettigrew and Potter had found out about their friend's 'condition' in their second year, and in their fifth year they had become animagi so they could help out their friend on full moons. Potter was a stag, hence his nickname Prongs; Black, who they would call Padfoot, was a big, scruffy black dog and Pettigrew was a rat and therefor named Wormtail. They had also given Remus a nickname: Moony.

While the boys were joking around, James noticed a book lying on the couch beside of him. Curious, he picked it up to see that it was the seventh year Charms book. The bespectacled wizard opened the book to see who it belonged to, and was over-joyed to find the name of 'the love of his life' written in her own delicate cursive writing. He grinned as he imagined giving it back to her and having her hug him for doing so. Therefor he decided to go and find Lily Evans and give her back her book. He told the boys about his plan, and Black just rolled his eyes at his love-sick friend, while Remus told him, that it was a better attempt at getting her to like him than all of his earlier ideas.

"Just try not to be your arrogant self and don't ask her out. If you just genuinely hand her back her book and leave, she might be left thinking that you actually are a good guy," Remus advised.

"Okay; I won't be arrogant, I won't ask her out, I'll just give her the book and leave," James repeated. "Where do you think she is?"

"I heard her and Edmonson, Moore and Fall talking about going to the library," informed Sirius. "I just don't get how they can make themselves go to the library on a _Saturday! _They must be insane!_" _James ignored this comment and instead stood up, asked the boys to wish him good luck, before heading out of the portrait hole, and down the stairs to the library.

When he reached his destination he noticed Gemma, Taylor and Jacqueline leaving the library, but no Lily. _She must still be in there_, he grinned to himself. Out of habit, he ran his hand through his already messy, dark brown hair. He said nothing to the three girls, though he noticed them looking at him weirdly. And as he had thought, Lily was sitting by a desk all alone, writing down on a piece of paper, occasionally reading a few lines in the book in front of her. James took a moment to just look at her. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful girl ever. He loved her fiery red hair, but what entranced him the most was her sparkling, emerald-green eyes. Though they were more often than not filled with anger when she looked at him, he still found himself 'getting lost in them', cheesy as that may sound.

"Umm, Lily?" James asked shyly, not wanting to sound arrogant. The red-head turned around and mentally groaned as she saw James standing there.

"What do you want, Potter?" She spat his name out. Lily didn't exactly mean to be a bitch but whenever James was near, she automatically became harsh and snappy. James always mentally cringed when she said his last name with so much venom in her voice. He would give anything to hear her say his name with happiness and love in her tone instead.

"I, uhh, found your charms book in the common room and, uhh, thought you might've been looking for it so, yeah…" James replied, doing his best not to sound arrogant. It wasn't very hard though. For some reason he was suddenly quite shy standing in the presence of Lily, something that had _never _happened before. Normally James would be ruffling his hair to make it look sexy, according to him, but now he found himself scratching the back of his neck like a shy, little school boy. But the anger visibly left Lily's face and she took a hold of her book. She actually felt a little bad for snapping at him before, now that she knew all that he wanted was to give her back her charms book. But a part of didn't believe that that was _all _he wanted. She bet that he would ask her out as always any second now. But the young witch was greatly surprised.

"So, I guess I'll just go again…"

"Yeah, uhh, thank you, Potter," Lily spoke his name without the usual harsh tone and actually gave him the smallest of smiles, causing James to begin screaming in joy and dancing around in his head. On the outside he just let a little grin show, before he said goodbye, turned around and left the library, now grinning like crazy. Lily just stared at him, surprised that he hadn't made any attempts at asking her out. But she decided that he was probably just momentarily out of his mind and would soon go back to pestering her and asking her out on a daily basis. She shook her head and went back to working on her essay, her ears slightly red from thinking that James could actually be a genuine guy deep down inside.

Meanwhile, James was skipping down the corridors feeling as if he could fly without the use of a broom. _She didn't yell at me! She's probably back there thinking about how wrong she was about me and how she actually loves me! _James thought. He couldn't wait to tell his friends about the progress he had made.

"…She actually _smiled _at me!" James repeated after telling his friends about what had happened. Sirius was greatly surprised when he heard that Lily hadn't even yelled at him. He had thought that Lily would've ended up hitting James with the Charms book.

"You know, mate, I think you might actually have given yourself a chance with her!" Sirius clapped James on the back.

"Yeah, so do I. Perhaps I should continue acting like that around her. You know, being all shy and innocent," James said with a dreamy look on his face.

"That's what we've been telling you to do all along, Prongs," Remus smiled at his friend.

"But if you're innocent, then you can't prank with us anymore!" Sirius exclaimed as he realized this. He and James looked at each other in horror as they thought about this. James gulped and prepared himself to say the words he never would have thought would leave his mouth.

"Perhaps I _should_ stop pranking. I mean, I _am _Head Boy and if not pranking is what it takes to get Lily to like me, then that is what I must do." The three boys all stared at James in wonder. None of them would have believed that James had said this if they hadn't just heard him with their own ears.

"No more pranking?" Sirius repeated sadly. "How about we only lay a little off on the pranking and just don't get caught?" James sighed in relief.

"Yeah, I think that sounds like a better plan." Remus rolled his eyes at the two boys, something he often found himself doing.

"So, he didn't ask you out at all?" Jackie questioned disbelievingly. It was nine o'clock in the evening when Lily decided to tell her friends about the incident with Potter. They were all in the dormitory, Jackie putting on some nail polish, Taylor previously reading_ Quidditch Through The Ages _for around the hundredth time and Gemma stroking the light brown cat, Quaffle, who was one of the few animals that didn't hate her.

"No, not once! Do you think it means anything?"

"Maybe he took a hit to the head with a bludger," Taylor suggested. Lily cracked a smile at this comment.

"Or maybe he's finally realized that the only way to get you to like him is by being a genuine, non-arrogant guy. And it seems like it's worked; you've been thinking about him all day haven't you?" Gemma asked knowingly, causing Lily to blush.

"I haven't been thinking about him _all _day, and certainly not in the way you're thinking!"

"Are you sure, Lils?" Jackie teased.

"Of course I'm sure!"

"But maybe he did just take a hit to the head with a bludger. I'm not that good at all this boy-stuff and frankly, I think we're reading too much into it," Gemma spoke.

"That's what girls do, Gemma. We always read too much into it – that's what creates all of our problems!" Taylor smiled.

"Speaking of reading too much into it; how are things going with you and Jared?" Gemma asked referring to the train-ride home before summer, where Lily and Jackie had been convinced that Jared West had a crush on Taylor.

"Oh, right! You're partners with him in astronomy now, aren't you?" Jackie asked eagerly.

"Yeah…" Taylor dragged out the word, not liking where the conversation was going.

"Oh, it must be so romantic having to look at the stars together!" Lily remarked. Taylor shot daggers at a smirking Gemma for bringing up Jared.

"No it isn't. But how about you, Gemma? How are things going with you and the boys?" Taylor switched the topic over to Gemma whose smirk immediately vanished.

"Oh, same as always: nothing's going on at all."

"I don't get that. I mean, you're absolutely gorgeous, you have a great and funny personality and you're not afraid of talking to boys – why haven't you ever been asked out before?" Jackie wondered out loud, though sugar-coating Gemma a little bit.

"Thanks Jackie. It means so much to me to hear you say that I've never been asked out before," Gemma said sarcastically.

"You know I didn't mean it like that." Gemma's smile proved that she indeed had known that Jackie hadn't said it to hurt her feelings.

"Well, I don't know why I haven't been asked out. I guess I just don't stand out."

"I bet that if you let the world know about your taste of music and your darker rebel-side, you'd stand out more than anyone else;" Taylor said.

"Yeah, but who wants to date a psychopath who loves being stubborn and non-cooperative and on top of that has a taste for heavy metal music?"

"Black might," Jackie smirked.

"That's just revolting, Jackie!"

"And no offence, Gemma, but I doubt that Black will ever fall for _any_ girl," Lily spoke.

"No offence taken. But can we move on from the subject about me and boys? We all know that I don't really care much about boys anyways."

"You will soon," Jackie said all-knowingly.

"Says who? Maybe I'm a lesbian after all," Gemma joked. The girls all laughed and the conversation moved on from Gemma and boys to what they all thought about their new Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher, Jeremyah Kalavanos, who Jackie apparently found quite hot ("you're unbelievable, Jackie!" said Lily). And so the last first Saturday of the year ended with the girls laughing and teasing each other as always.


	8. Crossroads

**Chapter 8**

"Have you heard about Olivia Teller's family?"

"No, what about them?"

"Apparently they were all found dead in their house last evening!"

"That's awful! How did they die?"

"Death Eaters murdered them of course!"

"Oh, poor Olivia!"

Gemma was walking behind two talking Hufflepuff girls in their third year. She was clutching a letter from her brother which she had received at breakfast, Sunday the 25th of September, two days before full moon. But she had wanted to read the letter in private and was now heading to her dormitory when she came to walk behind the two Hufflepuff's who were talking about a Ravenclaw third year, Olivia Teller, whose family had been murdered by Death Eaters. It pained Gemma's heart to hear this. Not only because the loss of someone you love must be terrible, but also because she knew that her own family was in great danger of being targeted, now that they had joined the Order of the Phoenix.

When Gemma reached her empty dorm, she quickly sat down on her bed and ripped the letter from Matthew open.

_Dear Cracker,_

_Mum, dad and I have now fought the Death Eaters alongside the Order for the first time. Don't worry; everyone's all right, except for a few scratches and dad who twisted his ankle and had trouble walking, but that's over now. So just to be clear, I'm writing this to you, not to worry you but because I know that you'll explode if you aren't informed of what's going on._

_On a lighter note, the band is going great at the moment. I'm just afraid that we're going to have to take a break from playing now with the war going on. Oh, and the guys have also joined the order. I've asked Kaylee to stay out of it with the baby on the way, and I hope that even when it's born Kaylee still won't join. Wish me good luck with telling her that by the way._

_But Kaylee and the unborn baby are doing fine, except for Kaylee's mood-swings and weird cravings. The other night she wanted me to get her marshmallows with tartar sauce and pickles – and I beg you to take note that this was in the middle of the night._

_I hope you're doing fine at school and having a great time. Have you caused any havoc yet? You know you can always ask me if you want any ideas… But is there anything new to Hogwarts? Has James yet convinced Lily to go out with him? Have _you _been asked out? No, that wouldn't be right…But if you have, then tell me who he is so I know whose ass I should kick!_

_Adios!  
Matt_

Gemma's face was grave at first but when she read further down the letter, her frown became a smile. It amazed her that even with the war going on, Matt still had a humoristic and optimistic attitude.

At this moment, Lily, Jackie and Taylor entered the room.

"Who's the letter from?" asked Lily to which Gemma replied 'Matt'. "And what did he have to say?" Gemma thought about telling Jackie and Lily about the Order of the Phoenix. Taylor already knew about it and she and Gemma had before wondered if they should tell their other two friends. Gemma now decided that there was no harm in telling them about the Order and so she did.

"So Matthew and your parents are actually fighting against you-know-who and the Death Eaters in open battles?" Lily questioned and Gemma nodded. "But that must be so dangerous!"

"Yeah, it is, but as soon as we graduate I'm joining the Order as well," Gemma informed her friends.

"So am I," Taylor said. They all looked at her in surprise but then Jackie spoke as well.

"I've actually heard of this order before. I think my dad mentioned it once. But, well, if you guys are going to join, then count me in."

"And me too," Lily spoke finally. They all smiled solemnly at each other but then decided not to talk about the war anymore, seeing as it was just making everyone miserable.

* * *

At dinner that Sunday evening, Lily, Jackie, Taylor and Gemma were all sitting at the Gryffindor table eating dinner, talking and laughing. It was impossible to tell that earlier that day all four of the girls had made the decision to risk their lives to defeat Voldemort.

Potter and Pettigrew came to dinner a little late and decided to sit next to the girls, James next to Gemma, and Pettigrew on the other side of his best friend. But what everyone easily noticed was that Black and Remus where not there.

"What have you done with the other half of your gang?" Gemma asked Potter.

"Oh, uhh, Mo-Remus wasn't feeling too well so he went to the infirmary and Sirius is, uhh, not in his best mood."

"Why not?"

"Well, uhh, you've heard about his family and all that stuff, don't you?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, he just got this letter from his mother, you see, and it said that his great-uncle has died. Apparently the funeral was yesterday and not even Sirius's brother Regulus bothered to tell him about it." Regulus was a Slytherin boy in the year below him. While he looked immensely like Sirius, the two brothers were not much alike.

"But why would he care that his great-uncle has died when he despises his family anyways?" Potter looked up in shock to see that it was in fact Lily who had spoken those words. He nearly grinned but then remembered what they were talking about, and was sure that Lily wouldn't approve of him smiling while talking about his best friend's dead great-uncle.

"Well, Alphard – his great-uncle – was different than the rest of the Black's. He didn't really believe in all that blood-purity stuff but was never disowned because he never really voiced his opinion. But he had always been supportive of Pa-Sirius and so, well, I guess it makes sense that he's pretty bummed out. I mean, one of the only decent people in his family is dead!"

"But if he's sad, then why did you just leave him alone? Why aren't you with him and comforting him?" Lily was the one to ask.

"Well, um, he's more angry than sad right now and it's probably best to just leave him alone and let him cool down." Gemma stayed quiet. She'd only tried losing her grandparents and they all died when she was little. She could only imagine how it must feel to lose one of the only people in your family that you could actually talk normally to.

The conversation at the table soon took another direction and the girls talked together while Potter and Pettigrew had their own private chat. Lily was overly surprised that Potter hadn't asked her out. In fact, ever since the incident in the library, Potter had only asked her out two times. His constantly complementing her had also ceased and he no longer seemed _that_ arrogant. His strange behavior confused Lily beyond belief.

After dinner, Gemma decided that she hadn't listened to music for far too long. There was a class room in Hogwarts filled with muggle instruments and it also hosted a muggle gramophone and plenty of records. The room was used by the music clubs and when Matt and his friends had gone to Hogwarts they had practically lived in the room. Gemma too used the room when she wanted to listen to music and just let go of everything. And seeing as she hadn't been in the room at all in her seventh year she though that it was about time that she paid it a visit. Gemma told her friends this and thus they parted ways when they were on the sixth floor. There was also a music room on the fifth floor but this room was used by the Hogwarts orchestra.

Seeing as a silencing spell had been cast on the music room hundreds of years ago, it prevented Gemma from hearing the music already playing from the gramophone inside of the class room. She opened the door unaware of it being occupied and stood there in the doorway like a deer caught in the headlights as non-other than Sirius Black stared at her from the worn-out couch he was sitting on. His eyes were red and puffy but there were otherwise no other traces of the young wizard having cried. The music playing from the gramophone was a song by Thin Lizzy called _Whiskey in The Jar _and Gemma recognized the song immediately.

"Oh.. uhh… Sorry, I didn't know that anyone was in here…" Gemma trailed off, her ears growing red. Black remained silent. "I'll, uhh, just… leave."

"No, just stay," came Black's slightly hoarse voice. Gemma just stood in the doorway without knowing what to do. _Why did I have to choose today to listen to music? I really should get a gramophone in the dormitory, _Gemma thought. "Well, come in and sit." Gemma slowly entered the room and closed the door behind her. She awkwardly walked step by step over to the couch and sat down as far away from Black as she could. He looked at her with a small smile. "Scared of me, are ya?"

"No… I just…" Gemma didn't really know what to say. She could have asked him why he was crying but she already knew why and she had a feeling that he didn't want her to point out that he had been weeping. But with the situation, Gemma grudgingly realized that she would probably have to make small talk for once in her life. "So, d'you like Thin Lizzy a lot?"

"I like them but maybe not _a lot."_

"So what's your favorite band?" Inside of her head Gemma was thinking _kill me, kill me now._

"I'm not sure. I like muggle music the most, I guess. I started listening to it in the first place as a way to piss off my mother when I was eleven." The look on his face when he said 'mother' was not pleasant. His eyes were filled with so much hatred that Gemma was actually scared that he would burn a hole in something. "What about you?" Black tried to defuse the tension that he had created.

"Oh, I love muggle music as well but I also really like Wizarding Wrock – have you ever heard of the bands _Wands n' Roses_ and _Poison for My Valentine?_" Black nodded. "Well, they're two of my favorites, well, of the wizarding bands anyways," Gemma nodded on, not really knowing what to say.

"You can play something you like, if you want," Black told her as the song with Thin Lizzy ended. Gemma quietly thanked him and stood up to find the album that she wanted to hear. The collection at Hogwarts was overwhelming. Gemma had never tried not being able to find the record that she wished to play. "James told you about my great-uncle, didn't he?" Black deadpanned as she looked for a particular album. She stopped looking and turned to face Sirius.

"Uhh, yeah… I'm sorry for your loss," Gemma said with as much sincerity as she could muster. "But, umm, I'm really not that good at comforting people, just so you know," she said awkwardly. Black chuckled.

"Neither am I. But you don't have to comfort me. Just act as you normally would around me."

"Okayyy," Gemma dragged out the word and turned back around and continued her search for the album by AC/DC, High Voltage. She could hear Black chuckle at her awkwardness and rolled her eyes at him. She decided to not let him get to her and just be herself.

When Gemma finally found the record she put it on the gramophone after removing the Thin Lizzy LCD-panel. When all was done, Gemma sat back down though not at the edge of the couch as she had before; instead she relaxed against the backrest and ignored the fact that her palms for some reason were quite sweaty.

"Good choice," Black commented. "I also really like AC/DC." Gemma looked at Black and saw that he was grinning at her.

"What are you smiling at?"

"Just the fact that you're not at all like I expected."

"Oh, well I would hate to be predictable," Gemma smirked.

"It's just, you seem all quiet and shy but apparently you have a whole other side to you."

"Yeah, but doesn't everyone have another side to them? I mean, it depends on the fact if you know the person. If you do, then you know both sides but if you don't then you only know one side – the façade." Both of their two feet were rocking slightly to the beat of the song.

"So you're not at all quiet and innocent?"

"Well, not really. Once you get me started talking it can take a while before I shut up. And I wouldn't say that I'm innocent. Matt never gave me a chance to be innocent." Gemma suddenly found it easy talking to Black. Perhaps it was because they weren't making small talk about trivial stuff but actually building a real conversation. And for some reason, Gemma liked the road it was taking.

"But why don't you show everyone who you really are? Why don't you just drop the façade?"

"Because… Because the façade isn't _just _a façade. It's also a part of who I am. I mean, I _do_ think a lot about school and getting good grades and I absolutely love reading so that's not just a façade. And then I actually am really shy around people I don't know and I guess being shy means that you're quiet as well. But actually, I think the reason that I'm sometimes quiet isn't that innocent. I hate small talk, you see. It feels more like a third degree and I'm not at all good at it either – just like I'm not good at comforting people. But when I have to comfort people I really hate the awkwardness of it all; when it comes to not wanting to make small talk I actually sometimes enjoy making the other person uncomfortable – I don't know why!" Gemma suddenly found herself opening up to Black in a way, something she never would've thought would happen and certainly not that easy. And she hoped that he wouldn't bring up the fact that earlier she had indeed been very uncomfortable. He luckily did not.

"So you're actually not innocent, eh?"

"No, I'm more like the devil's little sister. The devil being Matt of course. But something I don't really get is the fact that so many people think it's funny that I have two different sides. I mean isn't a lot more awesome anyways, when people can't just immediately predict what you're like? Why is it that we sort people into boxes? I guess the rebel part of me just wants to screw it all up and be not just a tough punker but also the shy girl that I tend to be so that I can't be put into a box." Gemma had no idea where the words were coming from but she found herself not caring.

"You know, I think I know what you mean. It makes sense, really."

"You think so? I don't really think I got it." They both laughed.

Black was surprised to find himself actually enjoying the presence of Fall. He had talked to her before and even made small sarcastic drama shows with her, yet he still didn't really know her. And their conversation was letting him get to know more about her and her thoughts.

"But it's just like in life we always end up at these crossroads. You have two choices, that's it. Why can't you just walk straight through the middle and create your own path? I mean, the point of being a rebel is to not follow the others; to not be a part of the main-stream. But then most of the rebels are alike in a way aren't they? They dress in emo-style and let the world know that they want to be different. I like working undercover instead," Gemma spoke while gesticulating with her hands and looking in front of her as if there was something to see. They both laughed again at her comment about working 'undercover'.

"You've got a way with the words, eh? You sound very poetic."

"Yeah, I've actually been told that before. I think it has something to do with all the reading."

"But where'd the whole crossroad-thing come from?"

"No idea. I tend to speak before I think and then I just forget about thinking at all in general." It seemed that many of Gemma's comments were funny because once again they both laughed at what she said.

"But I really _do_ see what you mean. We find people, who are a bit of everything kind of weird, don't we? It's kind of like they're trying too hard and end up being all fake and so instead we stick to having just one side."

"Gee, thanks, you just called me fake," Gemma said sarcastically.

"Well, no, that's not what I meant. I mean, you're _not _a bit of everything because you don't really care what you are just as long as you get to be _who _you are. You don't try to be everything at once but you don't keep to just one side – you explore the sides and moods!"

"Yeah, but I think the exploring of moods has more to do with hormones and mood-swings." They chuckled and Gemma tried not to think about that what Black had said was actually a complement. A comfortable silence fell between them and they both listened to the on-going music, Gemma mouthing along with the lyrics.

"You know, Fall? You're not that bad at comforting people as you think."

"Don't say that – this could just be one of my lucky days," Gemma joked. "Did our conversation even make sense?" she said as an afterthought.

"_I_ think it did. People who weren't a part of the conversation would probably not have understood it, but that's one of the fun things about having weird conversations." Once again they chuckled.

The silence fell between them yet again, but they both found themselves highly comfortable in the presence of each other. After a while they were both mouthing along to the words of the song and Black, being Black, started acting dramatically as if it were actually him singing. Gemma laughed and started to do the same thing.

After laughing for several minutes Gemma suddenly realized that it was nearly curfew and that they'd better head back to the common room.

"Well, it's been fun talking about life and listening to music with you Black, but I think that we should get going."

"Yeah. Thanks for the talk, Fall."

"You too, Black." They smiled briefly at each other before stopping the music and heading out of the music room on the sixth floor of Hogwarts.

**I hope the conversation made sense to you :) If not, then feel free to tell me what you didn't understand and I'll do my best to make it understandable :) But yeah, Gemma and Sirius are getting closer to each other, eh? I smiled a lot while writing this chapter so I hope you didn't find it too cheesy :)**

**I was inspired to write this chapter while listening to a song by Avenged Sevenfold called _Crossroads. _So yeah, that's where the whole 'crossroad-thing' came from. Some of the things Gemma said were kind of taken from the song, but otherwise her words came straight from my own mind :D **


	9. The Unexpected though Expected Date

**********Disclaimer: Everything and everyone you recognize from the Harry Potter universe and story belongs to J. K. Rowling. **

**Chapter 9**

Few words were spoken between the two Gryffindor's as they made their way to the common room. Instead they enjoyed the comfortable silence only broken by the clicking sound of their shoes meeting the stone floor.

"Erkling Cackle," Gemma said the password to the Fat Lady who guarded the Gryffindor Common room on the seventh floor. The portrait swung to the side and Gemma went through the hole, Black right behind her.

The common room was nearly empty, except for a group of studying fifth years, some laughing fourth years and a few other students. Potter and Pettigrew were sitting by the fireplace playing Exploding Snap. Gemma smiled at Black who smiled back and with a short 'Night', Gemma went up the stairs to her dormitory while Black went to sit by his friends who were happy to see that he was back on track though confused as to why he had entered the common room with Gemma.

As the blond girl ascended the stairs she briefly wondered if the conversation with Black had changed anything between them. _But he still calls you Fall and you still call him Black, _a voice in her mind told her. So Gemma simply shook her head empty with thoughts of being somewhat friends with Black and opened the door to her dorm.

"Gemma! You'll never guess what happened shortly after you left!" Jackie exclaimed no sooner than when she had seen Gemma's face. Gemma closed the door behind her and went to sit on her bed.

"Well, if I'll never guess it then how about you tell me instead?"

"Jared asked Taylor out!" Lily blurted out.

"Hey, I wanted to tell her!" Jackie mock-glared at Lily. Gemma looked at Taylor whose ears were very red.

"Really?" Taylor nodded. "So Lily and Jackie were right, eh? But that's positively fantastic, Tay-Tay!"

"Thanks," Taylor mumbled.

"So, do you like him back?" Gemma asked.

"Yeah, I guess. He's really nice and he actually likes and plays Quidditch like me! And well, I said yes, so it would be kind of stupid if I didn't like him at all."

"And you said that he didn't like you! I guess you were wrong and Lils and I were right!" Jackie said in a sing-song voice. Taylor groaned and looked desperately at Gemma.

"And I've had to listen to that ever since he asked me!" Gemma laughed at her friend.

"So, Gemma, you were gone for longer than usual; did you miss your music that much?" Lily asked. Gemma knew that she would eventually have to tell her friends about what had happened in the Music class room, but she also knew that as soon as she did, Jackie and Lily would dive head-first in to a huge analyze about what it could possibly mean.

"Well, someone was actually already in there but we just sat and listened to music together while talking." Gemma hoped that the girls wouldn't ask her who it was, but luck was not on her side.

"Who was it?" Jackie eagerly asked. "Was it a boy? Did you snog him?" Gemma laughed as well as Lily and Taylor.

"Yes, it was a boy but no, I definitely did _not _snog him!"

"You seem to not be wanting to tell us who this mystery boy is, Gems," Taylor said knowingly.

"Fine, it was Sirius Black." Three shocked faces looked at Gemma.

"You snogged Black?" Jackie asked with wide eyes.

"No! I didn't snog him! Why is it that as soon as there is a boy involved you think I've snogged him?"

"Because Black isn't just _any _boy; he's a snogging lover-boy!" Gemma rolled her eyes.

"You're mental."

"But wasn't he angry about his great-uncle's death?" Lily asked.

"No, not angry. When I first came in though, he seemed to have been crying."

"Crying?" Taylor repeated and Gemma nodded. "Wow, I'd never thought I'd ever hear of Black _crying_."

"But yeah, I sat down on the couch, we listened to some AC/DC and we talked. It was quite fun actually," Gemma smiled.

"Oh-oh! Have you gotten a little crush on Black?" Jackie smirked.

"You know it's possible to hang out with a guy and not have feelings for him, Jackie. And no, I have not gotten a crush on Black!"

"Yeah, it may be possible not to have feelings for them for like a day or so. Just you wait and see," Jackie said all-knowingly. Gemma rolled her eyes whilst shaking her head.

"I'm not even going to try to argue with you; you're a lost cause."

The conversation went on from Gemma's purely platonic evening with Black to whatever was going on with Potter. Neither of the girls could really grasp what had happened with him, but Taylor, Jackie and Gemma were positive that it was having an effect on their friend Lily; an effect that Potter sure would be happy to know about.

* * *

Saturday, October the first, came quickly and there were only twelve more days until Gemma's eighteenth birthday. The year before that, when Gemma had turned seventeen, the girls had held a minor party in the music room, just the four of them, seeing as Gemma didn't hang out with that many other students and only wished to spend her birthday with her three best friends. This year they were planning something along the same lines, but in their dormitory instead, so that they could stay up for much longer than the curfew allowed them. Her birthday would fall on a Friday after all.

However, Gemma wasn't the only one with an upcoming birthday; the Marauders were going to have a massive party in the Gryffindor common room on the seventh of October to celebrate none other than Sirius Black's birthday. For some of the students (mainly Black's fan girls) this was the only thing they could talk of. Taylor, Jackie, Lily and Gemma were getting quite sick and tired of it.

But the first of October was also a big topic of discussion; it was the first Hogsmeade day of the year and also the day of Taylor and Jared's first date.

"How do I look?" Taylor asked as she stepped out of the bathroom with Jackie. Lily and Gemma smiled at their friend.

"Absolutely gorgeous, Taylor!" Lily complemented. Taylor was dressed in a simple military green dress (it had taken a while to get her to agree with wearing a dress) that went to her mid-thighs where it ended in few ruffles. On top of it she wore a black cardigan and underneath she wore black leggings. Jackie had curled the shoulder-length brown hair so that it had more than just a wave to it and it now hung perfectly just above Taylor's shoulders. Even after a lot of begging, Taylor had not allowed her friend to put make-up on her but in the end she had agreed to drink a potion that would make the most of her pimples disappear.

"Yeah, you look like a real girl for once," Gemma teased to which Taylor stuck her tongue at her. "But an exceedingly beautiful girl, that is if you kept your tongue inside your mouth," Gemma added with a grin.

Lily handed Taylor a pair of ballerina shoes that matched the dress and the smiling, nervous girl slipped them on and deemed herself ready to go.

After breakfast, Jared came over to the Gryffindor table and nervously asked Taylor if she was ready to leave for Hogsmeade. Just as nervous, Taylor nodded and together the two seventh years left the others behind as they walked towards the Hogwarts entrance, making small talk.

"Oh, they are _so _cute together!" Jackie squealed.

"I really hope that they have a good date," Lily added.

"As long as Jared doesn't take her to Madam Poodifoot's I think they'll be alright," Gemma chuckled.

And so the three girls also made way for the Hogwarts entrance with their permission slip which they handed to the caretaker Argus Filch. On the stride down to Hogsmeade, they walked a couple of paces behind the Marauders who were joking around and playfully shoving each other once in a while. To Lily's delight, Potter didn't notice her behind him, but even if he had, Gemma was wondering if he would've asked Lily out like Lily expected him to do. But the fact remained that Potter hadn't done anything close to asking Lily out for an entire week and three days.

As Gemma had predicted, not much had changed between her and Black, except that he no longer thought of her as an innocent bookworm. But they had certainly not become close friends or anything like that.

In Hogsmeade, the three girls decided first to go to Honeydukes, the wizarding candy store, to stock up on some sugary, sour, funny, chocolaty and sharp sweets. It was safe to say that the shop was over-crowded so they found and bought their candy as quickly as they could so that they could get out of there in no more than fifteen minutes.

Afterwards Gemma and Lily dragged an unwilling Jackie to the book store Tomes and Scrolls. Only very few students were in there and that fact combined with the lovely smell of books and parchment made Gemma feel relaxed and overjoyed. She felt a lot more at home in bookstores than in any other place. Yes, she loved joke-shops and sweet-shops but there was still nothing like a shop filled with books.

Jackie decided to make the most out of it so she wandered down the romance-novels' aisle; Lily went to the history/realism section and Gemma looked upon the spines of the many books in the fantasy/science-fiction department. What Lily and Gemma loved about Tomes and Scrolls was that there weren't only wizard books but more than plenty of muggle-books.

As Gemma looked at the many tomes one in particular caught her eye; a book called _The Gates of Ivrel, _by C. J. Cherryh, a muggle author_. _Gemma took the book down from its place on the dusty shelf and opened it to read the first page.

Only three pages later, and Gemma was sure that she would buy the book. It was a mixture of Fantasy and Science Fiction about a space- and time-traveler named Morgaine.

After nearly half an hour, Jackie had complained so much that Lily and Gemma decided just to buy their books and get out of the shop so they could be free of their friend's whining.

The three girls walked around Hogsmeade, entered a couple of shops and bought whatever they found themselves needing. They saw Taylor and Jared a couple of times and they seemed to be having loads of fun as they laughed and chatted.

Around lunch-time Gemma, Jackie and Lily decided to go to The Three Broomsticks, an inn and a pub in Hogsmeade owned by the young Madam Rosmerta, who many boys and men took a fancy to. But as they arrived at the pub they quickly discovered that it was entirely full. There were no empty tables left and so the girls looked at each other, wondering what they should do. But their problem was solved, to Lily's protests, by none other than the Marauders who were sitting at a table with room for at least three more people.

"Hey, Evans, Edmondson, Fall! You can sit with us!" Black called out. Jackie and Gemma shrugged at each other, neither of them really minded having to sit with them seeing as they were too hungry to find another solution. It took a bit of augmenting before Lily agreed to the plan as well and when they sat down she hurriedly took the seat by the end of the table next to Jackie who sat beside of Pettigrew. Gemma sat across from Jackie, next to Remus.

"Where's Taylor?" asked the sandy-color-haired boy.

"On a date with Jared West," Gemma replied.

"Oh, he's the keeper on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, isn't he?" Black, who sat next to Remus, asked. Gemma nodded. "I didn't know that he and Moore fancied each other."

"Well, it certainly seems like the do – look over there," Jackie pointed at a couple in the corner of the pub who were none other than Taylor and Jared. They both seemed to be in fits of laughter and Gemma smiled at this.

"Don't stare at them! Let them have their privacy! And girls, shouldn't we get something to drink?" Lily added, looking pointedly at Jackie and Gemma.

"Don't worry about that, Evans. Prongs and I will take care of your drinks! What do you want?" Black stood up along with Potter. Jackie and Lily both answered 'butter beer without alcohol'. "No alcohol? Where's the fun in that? But what about you, Fall?" Black turned to Gemma.

"Oh, I'll have the strongest drink at the bar," she replied whilst rolling her eyes.

"Really?"

"Gee, don't you understand sarcasm, Black? Get me a butter beer without alcohol but with extra ginger, thank you."

"Okay. And you two will be having butter beers _with _alcohol, right?" Black asked Pettigrew and Remus who both nodded. And so Black and Potter went up to the bar to get the said drinks along with two firewhiskeys for themselves.

Lily began a discussion with Remus about a book he had recommended her to read and soon Black and Potter returned with each of the Gryffindor's respective drinks.

"So, ladies, have you heard of my upcoming birthday party?" Black asked as the rest took a sip of their drinks.

"We're not deaf, Black, almost every girl is talking about it," Jackie said.

"You shouldn't have said that, Jackie. Just look at him; his head is getting bigger by the second," Gemma joked. Black decided to ignore that comment.

"Well, I hope that you're planning on attending."

"It's in the Gryffindor common room. It would be kind of hard _not _to attend," Jackie said.

"I'm so happy that you'll all be there to celebrate my eighteenth birthday," Black said cheerfully causing Gemma to wonder if the firewhiskey had already gotten to his head.

"Yeah, and I'm happy that you won't be there to celebrate mine," Gemma remarked.

"You know just how to hurt my feelings, eh, Fall? And I thought we were friends," Black mock-pouted.

"Oh, when's my birthday?"

"I don't know."

"And you thought we were friends," Gemma said mock-pityingly. "It's the thirteenth of October."

"Well, that's soon. Are you having any party?" Remus asked politely.

"No, I'm not much of a party-person actually. I'm not that fond of large crowds," Gemma crinkled her nose.

"That's sad," Potter spoke for the first time.

"Yeah, that's positively depressing," Black added.

"Well, that's your opinion."

"And our opinion's the best!" Black and Potter said at the same time. _Okay, that firewhiskey _has _gotten to their heads already… or else they're just naturally mental. For some reason I don't find that hard to believe,_ Gemma mused as she took a sip of her butter beer.

When all of their glasses were empty, Gemma, Jackie and Lily put the money for their drinks on the table. Black swiftly took the most of the coins but left some.

"Why don't you take all of it?" Lily asked.

"Because I'm a gentleman so I've paid for some of each of your drinks. Just take the money there," Black pointed carelessly at the coins on the table. The girls all thanked him and then thanked them all for letting them sit with them before they headed out into the chilly autumn weather.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it, Lily?" Jackie asked.

"I guess not."

"She is _so _warming up to Potter," Jackie muttered to Gemma who chuckled in agreement.

**This was a kinda boring chapter, I know. But I hope you liked it anyways :) Next chapter will involve Sirius' birthday! **


	10. Horrid Music

**My good friend ordered me to update, so here is Chapter 10 along with Padfoot's birthday!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize from the Harry Potter universe or story – J. K. Rowling does. **

**Chapter 10 **

"Gods, that music is loud!" Lily complained in the girls' dormitory. Black's birthday party was in full swing and the beating music from the common room could be heard in all of the dormitories above.

"Weren't we supposed to attend the party, might I ask?" Taylor wondered. Her date with Jared had gone terrifically and they had planned to go out together again sometime. The girls were unbelievably happy for their friend.

"Yes, we said we'd come and I'm actually heading down there right now. How do I look?" Jackie asked. In hopes of perhaps catching the eye of some guy the honey-color-haired teenager had decided to wear an outfit that succeeded in making her look beautiful and kind of sexy without making her look like some tramp.

"You look great, Jackie. And we'll be down soon too," Gemma added. And so Jackie left the room and Gemma sat up from her bed after putting her book down on the bedside table.

"So, do we have to dress up or something?" Taylor asked.

"No, Jackie's just hoping that she can catch the eye of some poor bloke," Lily smiled.

"And if we had to dress up I would be slightly screwed. I haven't really gotten anything fancy in my wardrobe," Gemma remarked. The blond had never given much thought to what she wore. Most of her clothes were plain and simple, except for her band T-shirts, and she certainly didn't own anything that made her stand out. Sometimes she wished that she could have some cooler clothes but she wasn't much for shopping attire and she'd rather use her money on books, music and other stuff.

"Then shouldn't we just head down there?" Taylor asked. Lily shrugged and placed her book beside of her on the bed.

"Sure, let's go."

The common room was filled with talking, dancing, drinking and most of all laughing students from not only Gryffindor, but Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as well. A muggle song with an okay beat though a horrible and cheesy sound was playing, and Gemma couldn't help but think that they should change the music right away or she would go deaf.

"This music is positively ghastly," Gemma muttered to her friends. "But shall we go get a drink?" And so the three girls went over to the drink stand. The Marauders always managed to get plenty of drinks and snacks for the parties and everyone always wondered where they got it from. Gemma and the girls had once joked that when the boys came to Hogwarts in the beginning of the year, they all brought a trunk stuffed with alcohol, snacks and other stuff; of course this would be impossible.

Lily took a glass of Gillywater and both Taylor and Gemma took some punch after sniffing it for any signs of alcohol.

"You came! We were starting to wonder!" Potter exclaimed as he and Remus suddenly popped up in front of the girls.

"Yes, we came, but I don't know for how long we'll be staying," Lily remarked flatly. Potter's face visibly drooped but he was quick at fixing up a smile again.

"Oh, Moore, Jared's here if you want to see him. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to dance with you," Potter winked at Taylor who blushed slightly.

"Well, I'll, umm, just go and, umm, find him," Taylor told the girls who both smiled at her.

"Would you perhaps like to dance with me, Lily?" Potter asked politely. Lily was about to decline but Gemma beat her to it.

"Of course she'd like to dance with you, right Lily?"

"What?! No!"

"Oh, come on, Lils. Please give him a chance. Just one dance, that's all I'm asking for. And you know that you secretly want to," Gemma smirked.

"Fine, but you owe me one, Gemma Fall," Lily said grudgingly.

"You'll thank me later!" And so Lily placed her Gillywater on a table and took the hand of a smiling James.

"You know, James will most likely start worshipping you now," Remus smiled and Gemma laughed.

"I sure hope not. Though it would be fun," she said as an afterthought. "So who chose this horrible music?"

"I believe some of Sirius's fan girls did that. He probably hates it just as much as you, but I think he's busy snogging the brains out of some poor girl right now." They both chuckled but a voice behind them was less amused by this statement.

"Hey, Moony! I'm not snogging the brains out of anyone! How could you think such a horrible thing?" none other than Sirius Black, the birthday-boy, mock-gasped.

"Because that's what you do most of the time," Remus replied. Black chose to ignore this comment.

"Hey, Fall! You came! Horrid music, isn't it?" Black asked Gemma.

"Yes, it's terrible. Why don't you do something about it?" Black shrugged with a thoughtful frown.

"Dunno." Gemma chuckled.

"But happy birthday anyways!"

"Thank you, Fall. But I've gotta go now; there's a lady over there who seems to be in need of attention," Black winked at Gemma and Remus before he left for the 'lady in need of attention'. Both Gemma and Remus chuckled.

The song ended and once again Lily was by Gemma's side.

"So how was it dancing with Potter?" Lily blushed.

"Umm, it was okay." Gemma smirked.

"So you don't hate me?"

"No, I don't hate you," Lily chuckled

The night proceeded with horrid music and plenty of talking and laughing. Gemma had never been much of a party person and she only danced once with Lily. But to Gemma's surprise, Lily and James ended up dancing more than just that one time.

The blond girl found herself longing to escape the crowded room more than once and by half past ten she went to Lily to tell her that she would be heading up to the dormitory.

"What? But it's not even midnight! Hell, it's not even eleven yet! Is something wrong?"

"No, well, the music, as I've said before, is absolutely horrid and it's giving me a headache, but well, I'd rather just be up in my bed reading."

"Are you sure?" Lily looked sincerely at her friend.

"Yeah, I'm sure. See you later, Lils. And have fun!"

"But what if we switched to some music that _you _like, hmm? I really want you to stay," Lily pleaded.

"Lily, if we play music that _I _like, then I would have loads of curses, hexes and jinxes sent my way."

"But Black has the same music-taste as you! He'll probably be thankful if you switched the music and he's the birthday-boy after all," Lily continued to look pleadingly at her best friend. Gemma thought for a moment and then smirked slightly.

"Fine. Let's go and make some girls angry!" Gemma and Lily headed over to the wizard stereo and Gemma accio'ed one of her mixed-records from the dormitory and not long after, the album which contained music from the bands Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy and other muggle and wizarding rock bands, came flying in to her hand.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Gemma laughed with Lily. And so the two girls switched the album and the song _It's A Long Way to the Top _by AC/DC began playing. Many confused and startled looks were thrown their way as the two girls began laughing. But the attention was soon on Black as he stood up on one of the tables with a firewhiskey-bottle in his hand.

"Yay! Finally some _real _music!" He cheerfully bellowed. Many began laughing and the dancing and talking proceeded. Black stepped down from the table and went to hug a startled Gemma.

"You're my savior! Thank you _so _much, Fall!" Gemma laughed and pushed Black off of her. Lily smilingly left the two alone and went to talk with Remus and Potter.

"How drunk are you, Black?"

"Just a bit tipsy. How about you?" Black gave her his dazzling grin, which had no effect on Gemma.

"I haven't touched any alcohol."

"What? That's no fun!" Black mock-pouted. "Here; take a swig." He handed Gemma his bottle of firewhiskey and she took a small step back, her eyes wide.

"No, no, no, no, no," she said quickly and it sounded more like she was saying 'na-na-na-na-no'.

"Please! It could be your birthday gift to me," Black pleaded.

"Can't we say that me switching the music was your birthday gift?" Gemma suggested hopefully. But Black just gave her his best puppy-dog-eyes that were surprisingly cute. Gemma nearly awed like a little girl. "Fine I'll take a little sip but no more."

Black let a little 'yay!' escape his lips earning himself a death-glare from Gemma who took the bottle out of his hands. She eyed it distastefully but decided to just get it over with and poured a small amount of the drink into her mouth. It turned out that a small amount was way too much though.

Gemma spluttered and coughed as the firewhiskey burnt her throat in a way she had never imagined possible. Blood rushed to her head, and her chest became all warm and fuzzy.

Black was currently clutching his stomach while bending over, laughing hard at Gemma's reaction to the burning drink. This only earned him a glare though, when Gemma finally stopped coughing.

"I'm nearly dying and you just laugh? Fuck you, Black," she said, but not harshly, quite the opposite in fact. Gemma too was finding it hard not to laugh.

"Yo-your… f-fa-face!" Black managed to get out as he laughed and pointed at the golden blond girl in front of him. Gemma laughed silently as she always did, snorting once in a while as she gasped for air. She truly thought that her laugh was stupid but she didn't care at all.

"Well I hope that you're satisfied!"

"I-I'm mo-m-more than satisfied!" Black said as he wiped a tear away from his eye and took the bottle back from Gemma's hand.

"But I'll have you know that that is the last time I drink any firewhiskey."

"Oh, trust me, Fall, I'm gonna force you to drink it many times more in the future!" They both laughed again and Gemma plunked down in the cozy couch by the fire while Black threw himself down next to her.

"So, how many girls have you snogged tonight?" Gemma asked as Black took a mouthful of firewhiskey.

"Dunno. A few, I'd say."

"You're unbelievable, Black," Gemma shook her head, amused.

"Yes, I know, Fall. My awesomeness has struck many with awe before," Black replied arrogantly. Gemma scoffed.

"They're cute, aren't they?" Gemma changed the topic, referring to James and Lily who were once again dancing to a slower song by the Wrock band Rolling Gobstones. Sirius grinned at the sight.

"Yeah, I think they're meant for each other. But that could always be Prongsie's brainwash about Evans talking and not me." They both chuckled.

"He's been after her for a long time, hasn't he?"

"Tell me about it. He even says that he loves her." Gemma gasped at this and turned to look at Black.

"_Loves _her?" The Gryffindor girl repeated and Black nodded. "Wow."

"But Evans seems to be warming up to him as well, eh?"

"Yeah. I don't think she _loves _him, but I certainly think that she has got some sort of feelings for him," Gemma smiled. A comfortable silence fell between them and they both started mouthing along to the words of the song, both of them thinking about the evening they had spent together in the Music room.

"Hey, Fall? Wanna dance?" Gemma looked at Black surprised. _The _Sirius Black had just asked _her _to dance! But Gemma didn't start blushing or giggling like Black's fan girls would have. Instead she just shrugged and replied: "Why not?"

And so the two teenagers stood up as a faster song began to play. They walked a few paces away from the fireplace when Black began dancing and jiving horribly to the music. Gemma laughed and followed his lead. Together they danced and twirled around to the up-beat song, both laughing like maniacs. They didn't care how ridiculously they looked, but only thought about having fun. Both of them though, when they put an effort to it, weren't the worst dancers. When Sirius had still lived with his parents, Walburga Black, his mother, had made him take ballroom-dance-lessons. Therefor Black knew how to control his moves, also when it came to party-dancing like he and Gemma were now.

Gemma had always liked dancing to music in her room and when she had been little she had also attended dance lessons, though not ballroom dance lessons like Black. When it came to ballroom dancing, Gemma was far from an expert. She looked more like a clown, according to a teasing Matthew.

After dancing ridiculously for a couple of songs, Black and Gemma were in fits of laughter and had ended up falling to the floor, causing many to stare at them weirdly. Neither of them noticed it but a bunch of girls were also sending pathetic death-glares towards Gemma.

What amazed the two laughing teenagers was how comfortable and how at ease they felt in the other's company. They'd never thought of the other as a friend yet they were laughing and goofing around as if they had known each other forever. Another thing that startled Sirius was the thoughts suddenly running through his head when he looked at the silently hard laughing, golden blonde girl in front of him; thoughts of how beautiful he found her.

_Wait, did I just think of Fall as beautiful? _Sirius pondered.

Gemma was the first one to gain control of her laughter and she managed to stand up, only falling down again once. She held out her sweaty palm to Black who took ahold of it with his equally sweaty hand.

"Thanks, Gemma," he said after he got up on his feet again and wiped away a tear of laughter.

"Did you just call me Gemma?" The blond girl looked surprised at the young man in front of her.

"Yeah; that's your name, isn't it?" he grinned.

"I suppose," Gemma chuckled. "Well, you're welcome Sirius."

And the night continued with talking, drinking, laughing, dancing and enjoying the presence of the many friends who surrounded Gemma. She was thankful that Lily had made her stay in the common room instead of letting her go up to the dormitory. And Sirius was also thankful that Gemma had stayed for his birthday-party; after all, it was the evening that he, James, Peter and Remus had become real friends with Gemma Fall.

**And there you go – they're finally friends! But the story is faaaar from over, and more drama will soon be added :D I hope you didn't find the chapter way too cheesy, 'cause I know that the whole dancing-thing has been used many times, but it just felt right :) Thanks for reading :D**


	11. Small Feet

**Thank you to all who have reviewed, especially to **_**livestrong617**_** who not only has reviewed once but entire six times! I couldn't be happier! And also thanks to those who have added Rebels of War to their favorites or alert list! You guys are all the reason as to why I continue writing! And of course thanks to you for reading up until this chapter, which I think you should get to read now… **

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter – Jo does :) And nor do I own Matthew Fall's band **_**Stained Illusion **_**as they are practically Avenged Sevenfold with another name…**

**Chapter 11 – Small Feet **

The fact that she had not slept well was clear before Gemma even opened her eyes. _Where _she had fallen asleep came as a shock.

Gemma bolted upright and groaned in pain, her aching muscles screaming at her to be gentle. Fortunately, her outburst didn't wake the other occupants of the room. Gemma looked around and saw beams of daylight shine through the windows. She covered her eyes with her hand and tried to remember what had happened the day before. It had been Black's birthday and there had been a party in the common room, as far as she could recall.

_Wait, I don't call him Black anymore, do I? _Gemma suddenly remembered the events of the night before. She had indeed become good friends with none other than the Marauders. And she may have let Sirius make her drink a smidgen too much of alcohol, not enough to get her drunk, but enough to make her tipsy.

_And that's why I fell asleep on top of Sirius' lap on the couch in the common room. _Gemma chuckled as she looked at Sirius' open mouth and uncomfortable sitting position on the together on the big armchair next to the sofa that Gemma was seated on, slept James, looking highly uncomfortable as well. Peter was lying on the floor, his eyebrows furrowed together as if he were having a nightmare or a very confusing dream.

Gemma wondered where Remus was but concluded that he had probably been wise enough to go up to his dormitory before he fell asleep.

"Oh, you're awake! Did you sleep well?" a chuckling Lily asked as she bounced down the steps of the girls' staircase. Gemma groaned in response.

"What time is it?" The blond yawned.

"It's only eight. I'm the first one up, I guess. So, you seemed to have fun last night." Lily sat on the sofa armrest next to Gemma and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess. You seemed to have loads of fun with James too." Lil blushes at this comment.

"You call him James now, eh?"

"Yeah, I suppose. I did last night, so why not now? Oh, and, Lily? Please don't kill me, but I've kind of become friends with the Marauders, I think," Gemma grinned sheepishly.

"I'm not going to kill you. Just as long as you don't follow their dark path," Lily joked.

"Hey, if I hung out with these guys last night, who did you hang out with?"

"I hung out with Dorcas Meadows and Marlene."

"That is, when you weren't dancing with James," Gemma smirked knowingly. Lily's blush returned and she stood up from the couch armrest.

"If you hurry up, take a shower and get dressed we can go to breakfast together."

"Okay," Gemma said before quickly dashing up the stairs. Lily looked around, suddenly realizing that she was alone with the sleeping Marauders. It didn't stay like that for long, because soon Remus descended from the boys' staircase.

"Good morning, Lily," the prefect greeted politely.

"Good morning, Remus," Lily smiled.

"You look like you're waiting for somebody."

"Oh, yes, Gemma's getting dressed and taking a shower… in the opposite order of course. But did you see how she and these guys fell asleep last night?" Remus chuckled.

"Yeah, it was quite amusing. But I hope you know that the guys really like Gemma now – in the friendly way of course – so you'll probably have to share her with them." Lily chuckled as well as Remus.

"Yes, I am aware of that fact."

Soon Gemma descended the stairs, dressed in clean and comfy clothes, ready to go to breakfast with Lily and Remus.

"Should we wake them?" Gemma referred to the sleeping boys in the common room.

"No, they'll wake on their own eventually," Remus told her, and so the three Gryffindor's went through the portrait hole and down the many, many stairs to the Great Hall.

The following Sunday evening found Gemma, Taylor and the Marauders at the sitting area by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. While joking around and talking partly about Quidditch and partly about funny memories, Taylor heard a tapping on the nearby window. She looked up to see her sister's owl, Francisca, on the other side of the glass.

The brown-haired girl quickly stood up and went over to open the window and let Francisca in. The owl held up its leg to show a letter bound to it. A letter to Taylor and Gemma. Taylor squealed, a sound that almost never left her mouth, and she hurriedly removed the letter from the owl's leg and let Francisca fly off to the Owlery.

"Gemma! It's a letter from Matt and Kaylee!" Gemma looked up in shock and quickly ran over to Taylor who was tearing the letter open.

"What's the big deal about a letter?" Peter asked his friends who decided not to answer him but instead looked at Gemma and Taylor who now together were ripping the envelope open. When they succeeded Gemma began to read the words of the letter out loud.

"_Dear Taylor and Cracker,_

_It's a girl! _(_"_Oh my merlin!") _Kaylee went into labor at one O'clock and now, seven hours later, we've finally become freaking parents! It's unbelievable, right? But your niece is the cutest, most adorable, prettiest and most magical thing I've ever seen! And yes, I know she's not a thing… But she's even cuter than you were, Cracker! _(Gemma rolled her eyes) _We've decided to name her Cheyenne October Fall! Kaylee came up with Cheyenne and well, she's born on the 9__th__ of October, so after tradition her middle name is October just like yours, Cracker! _

_For a nickname mum's suggested Annie but I'm not sure… It's too girly for my liking. _("Typical Matt.") _And we know that she doesn't _need _to have a nickname, but sometimes Cheyenne might get too long… But she's just so cute! I mean, with her small hands and small fingers! And don't get me started on her feet! Their so fucking adorable! Oh, right. Kaylee's been telling me that I have to cut down on the swearing now that Cheyenne's here… So Taylor, I'm going to steal your 'fudging' to replace 'fucking'." _Gemma and Taylor both rolled their eyes.

"_But I just can't wait until I can buy small shoes and cute small clothes to my little adorable sweetie-pie! Gods, I sound girlish, don't I? But I don't care! I'm a fudging DAD now!_

_Gotta go now – I can't stand sitting here and writing when I could be with my little sweetie-pie! Maybe that should be her nickname… _

_See ya aunties!  
Matt Fall – an official dad!" _

Both Gemma and Taylor were smiling widely by the time Gemma finished reading the letter. Taylor enveloped Gemma in a massive hug and they both started dancing around singing "We're aunties, we're aunties!"

"I wish I was there! I want to see her!" Gemma complained.

"So do I! Why did your idiot of a brother not send a picture of her as well?" The two girls chuckled.

"I just can't believe that we're aunts! I mean, we have a niece!" Gemma covered her mouth with both of her hands.

"Congratulations, girls!" Remus smiled at Gemma and Taylor who both thanked him.

"I just wanna scream of happiness!" Taylor told Gemma and the boys.

"Tell me about it," Gemma agreed.

"So how is Matt going to handle managing a baby while at the same time having a band and… other stuff?" Sirius asked. Gemma and Taylor both knew that by 'other stuff' he meant the Order.

"He's already told me before that he and his mates are thinking about taking a break with the band because of the war, and now with Cheyenne, I think they will," Gemma told the boys. Although the topic had turned graver, neither Gemma nor Taylor could stop smiling.

"That's a shame," James remarked to which Gemma nodded.

"Yeah. He won't be getting a motorcycle soon either," Gemma added. "Speaking of; how did things go with adding 'certain stuff' to your bike, Sirius?"

"Better than brilliant. Although Prongs and I did get stopped by the muggle police while going for a ride. I think we gave them quite a shocker afterwards when we flew away from them!" Sirius and James both laughed as they remembered the particular night.

"Wait; if you were on a motorcycle, how could you _fly _away from them?" Taylor asked.

"Because we charmed the bike to fly, of course," Sirius said matter-of-factly.

"Wicked!" the happy Taylor exclaimed after blatantly staring at Sirius for a couple of moments.

"You got that right, Moore," James agreed. Gemma and Taylor sat back down in their previous seats; Gemma on the couch next to Sirius and Taylor in a comfy armchair next to James who was sitting on the floor by the fire.

"D'you still like motorbikes, Gemma?" Sirius asked.

"Of course, I do! Why wouldn't I?" Gemma looked startled at the teenage boy with shoulder-length wavy black hair.

"Dunno. I was just wondering."

"I wish I had a motorcycle," Gemma said dreamily.

"You could always take mine for a ride once," Sirius offered. Gemma looked at him astonished.

"Really?"

"Sure," Sirius shrugged.

"I'm gonna hold you to that." The six Gryffindor's chuckled.

The evening continued with a happy atmosphere and loads of laughter. The thoughts of a little baby girl zoomed through Gemma and Taylor's heads the entire time and they both found it hard to not constantly smile, causing their cheeks to ache severely.

Soon Jackie and Lily also joined the little gathering at the common room fireplace and they both congratulated Gemma and Taylor when they were told about the little Cheyenne. Shortly after the two girls arrived though, the seventh-year Gryffindor's all decided it would be best to go to bed. The common room was nearly empty and it was eleven O'clock on a Sunday evening after all.

Monday morning meant double charms for the seventh year Gryffindor's except for Taylor and Peter. Fortunately, Charms was far from the worst class. Their teacher, Professor Flitwick, was a very small man, rumored to be half-elf or half-goblin. He was a very cheery man who didn't punish the students often and actually encouraged fun and experimenting. Gemma usually had no problems with charms but had she known what the professor had in store for his students that particular Monday morning, she most likely wouldn't have been that optimistic.

"Good morning, class! Today we will practice the art of allowing a picture to become alive!" Professor Flitwick started out as he stood on his pile of books at the front of the class. Gemma was sitting with Sirius to her right and Jackie to her left. "Now some of you might already be familiar with the charm _Picturam Vivere, _which causes movement in paintings some of you might even be experts in casting the charm yourselves! But for today, those of you who cannot will learn how to use this marvelous life-giving charm. And to add a bit of fun, you are all assigned to paint or draw the picture yourself. However, keep in mind that I do not expect a great piece of art, but simply the best you can manage to create."

"Oh, bugger," Gemma muttered under her breath. Sirius heard her though and gave her a questioning glance. Flitwick continued to tell the class how to cast the charm and he had them all repeat the incantation after him ("Picturam Vivere").

"Why 'oh, bugger' ?" Sirius whispered to Gemma.

"I suck at drawing, painting and all that has to do with it," Gemma whispered in reply to which Sirius chuckled.

When parchment and special colored quills that contained a potion which allowed the spell to work, had been given to all of the students, Gemma merely stared at the blank piece of parchment in front of her, mumbling "Merlin help me".

"Why don't you just draw something? You heard good old Flitwick; you don't have to create a great masterwork but at least a stickman," Sirius chuckled at his friend.

"Believe it or not; I can't even draw a stickman," Gemma looked at Sirius with no signs of sarcasm in her voice.

"I'll choose not to believe that seeing as I've seen you draw them on the side of your notes."

"Fine, I can draw stickmen! Who can't? And I'm not going to make a drawing of a stickman for this assignment! Everyone will think that I'm totally talentless… which I am," Gemma added as an afterthought.

"Just _try _to draw something," Sirius encouraged.

"What?"

"I don't know. Draw a dog," Sirius suggested.

"Dogs hate me." Sirius looked at Gemma surprised.

"Dogs hate you?"

"Yeah, nearly all animals hate me. Quaffle, Taylor's cat, and my owl Crethon don't but they're two of the few animals who have ever taken a liking towards me."

"I guess, that's why you don't have Care of Magical Creatures then."

"If I did then I would have been murdered by a flock of Flobberworms a long time ago." They chuckled, both well-knowing that flobberworms, some of the perhaps most boring animals in the entire world, would never be able to kill a human; they couldn't even cause an injury. "I can just see the headlines of the Daily Prophet: _Teenage witch dead – Killed by Flobberworms."_

"But come on – you must be able to draw something!" Sirius said after laughing at Gemma's joke.

"What are you going to draw?"

"A dog." Gemma raised her eyebrows.

"What is it with you and dogs?" Sirius laughed.

"I don't know," he answered untruthfully. Sirius knew exactly what it was with him and dogs: he was part dog himself.

"I think I know what I'll draw," Gemma said suddenly.

"What?"

"You'll see," the blond said cryptically.

After an hour of drawing it was time to practice the actual charm. Gemma and Sirius had agreed not to look at each other's drawings before they were done and now that they were, Sirius stared at Gemma's work with a puzzled expression, while Gemma stared in awe at Sirius' wonderful work of art.

"What the hell is it?" Sirius asked blatantly, referring to Gemma's painting. The golden-blond girl scoffed.

"That's rude! And how the hell can't you see what it is? I decided to draw Quaffle the cat playing with an actual Quaffle!"

"Ohhhh," Sirius dragged out the vowel. "I thought it was some kind of alien-thing playing with a pool of blood." Gemma scoffed again.

"Well, you clearly have no eye for true art." Gemma knew very well though, that what she had drawn couldn't be described as anything but crap. Her shoulders shook with laughter as she looked at her completely failed drawing.

Soon Sirius and Gemma were steading each other, both laughing hard. Sirius' laugh somehow reminded Gemma of a dog barking and her own laugh only reminded her of a retard. For nearly all her life, Gemma's laugh had been completely silent with a few grunts, gasps and snorts from needing air. When she was tickled though, her laugh was far from silent and nearly frightening instead.

"What are you guys laughing at?" James who sat beside of Sirius asked. Sirius just handed his friend Gemma's drawing and soon James too was laughing.

"I told you – I suck at drawing!" Gemma managed to say while laughing.

"What is it that must cause you three to laugh so much?" Flitwick asked as he passed James, Sirius and Gemma.

"Nothing of importance, sir," Gemma said, trying to stifle her smile.

"Well then, may I see your paintings before you charm them to life?" James handed the professor his drawing first, thereafter Sirius did and at last Gemma gave her painting to Flitwick while both James and Sirius tried to hide their laughter. "Oh! Well, this is a quite… characteristic work of art, Miss Fall. But if I may, I could perhaps give it a few final touches to improve it?" The professor asked. Sirius and James were nearly falling to the floor from trying so hard not to burst out it loud laughter. Gemma too hid a chuckle behind her hand.

"Oh, please, Professor – you are more than welcome to improve it." And with a wave of his wand, Flitwick managed to get the cat to look like an actual cat and the Quaffle to look like an actual Quaffle instead of a blood puddle. He handed Gemma back her drawing and proceeded to look at the other students' creations.

"Characteristic work of art?" Sirius repeated Flitwick's words and the three teenagers burst out laughing again.

In the end of the lecture, all of the seventh-year Gryffindor's had managed to get their picture to come to life, at least a little bit. Taylor awed as Gemma handed her the picture of Quaffle playing with the red Quidditch ball, pushing it back and forth but not much else.

Sirius' dog was running around seeming to be barking though no sound escaped the painting. But the laughter continued as he, James and Gemma all remembered Gemma's picture before Flitwick had improved it. Gemma truly was a terrible painter, but she continued to say "drawing is no small feat".

**I smiled A LOT while writing this chapter, so I hope that you at least found it a teensy bit amusing. And I too **_**really **_**suck at drawing :) But there you go**_** livestrong617 **_**- the baby's finally been born! I named her Cheyenne after my childhood best-friend from California. The sad thing is, I haven't had any contact with her since I was five or so. I guess that's what happens when you leave preschool and start at to two different kindergartens. And, well, then I eventually moved to Denmark which didn't really improve the situation :D Thanks for reading – why not leave a review? Gods, that sounds needy, doesn't it? I think I'll just stick to 'Thanks for reading' :D**


	12. Off Track

**Disclaimer:**** I still do not own Harry Potter – Jo does :) And nor do I own Matthew Fall's band **_**Stained Illusion **_**as they are practically Avenged Sevenfold with another name…**

**Chapter 12 – Off Track **

The evening of the 13th of October found a crowded yet pitch black Gryffindor common room. Silence filled the air until a beam of light fell upon the floor. The portrait of the Fat Lady opened and in stepped a confused Gemma Fall and a smiling Lily Evans.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRACKER!" Bellowed a grinning Sirius Black as the light appeared, revealing loads of smiling students and a party-ready common room.

"What the holy hell is going on?" Gemma stared dumbfounded at the bark-laughing teenage boy.

"We've made you a surprise party – with _terrific _music of course!"

"You know that's what happens when you befriend the Marauders!" James added.

"And that's why I'm starting to regret it," Gemma said playfully. "And Sirius: Matt will kill you if he finds out that you called me Cracker. He believes that only he can call me that."

"Oh. Well, then I probably shouldn't call you Cracker in front of him."

"No, you probably shouldn't," Gemma said as her lips widened in a smile.

The music that night certainly was good, and Gemma had the time of her life, joking around with all of her friends and dancing like nobody was watching. Fortunately, the party went by uneventful – well not _completely _uneventful, but there were no drama shows or big problems to be solved. Although Gemma had been looking forward to a peaceful and fun evening in the girls' dorm, she was more than glad that the boys had done the effort to plan a birthday party for her.

The festivity lasted long into the night, but this time Gemma managed to fall asleep in her bed instead of on the couch with her head in Sirius' lap. All in all, it was a brilliant birthday.

A couple of days later presented a big crowd of Gryffindor girls in front of the bulletin board, all of them giggling and whispering to their friends. Gemma and Taylor eyed the flock of girls warily as they entered the common room.

"What's up with the bird-gathering? Is there a poster of some hot bloke on the board, or what?" Gemma asked jokingly as she and Taylor sat down in the two other seats of the table where Lily and Jackie were sitting.

"No, they're all gawking at a poster announcing a Halloween ball," Lily explained. Gemma's head shot to her friend.

"Halloween ball? But you're head girl; you must've known about it before this poster was hung up."

"Yeah, it was partly my idea," Lily said sheepishly.

"And you didn't tell us?" Jackie looked startled at Lily whose face was growing redder.

"No, sorry. Professor McGonagall told Potter and me not to tell anybody in case anyone else would hear and well, we wanted it to be a bit of a surprise," Lily said a pleading for forgiveness clear in her voice.

"What's up with all of the surprise parties?" Gemma muttered, referring to her own birthday surprise party.

"It's okay Lily, you don't need to feel guilty for not telling us about it," Taylor chuckled.

"So, do we have to dress up in costumes and such for this Halloween ball?" Gemma inquired.

"Yes, we do. There's another trip to Hogsmeade arranged a couple of days before Halloween so that everyone who can't have their parents send them a costume, can buy one to wear to the party then," Lily informed her friends.

"And are dates required?" It was actually Taylor, to Gemma's surprise, that asked this question.

"Are you hoping for someone to ask you?" Jackie asked. Taylor blushed and suddenly became very interested in her fingernails.

"Um, well, I would hope that Jared will – he is my boyfriend after all." Lily, Jackie and Gemma all gasped and looked at Taylor as if she had three heads.

"And since when has Jared been your boyfriend?" Jackie questioned.

"Since this afternoon. We both had a free period and we spent it together and, well, he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes."

"Oh, congratulations, Taylor!" Lily hugged her best friend.

"Well, it was only a matter of time, wasn't it?" Gemma said after they all had hugged Taylor.

"But yes, you're allowed to bring a date but you don't have to," Lily said as an answer to Taylor's earlier question.

"Yay," Gemma said sarcastically.

"Why the lack of enthusiasm, Gems?" Taylor was the one to ask.

"Well, you remember what happened the last time there was a ball at Hogwarts where you could bring dates." It had only been the year before where a Yule Ball had been held at Hogwarts. Gemma had been asked to go by a seventh year Gryffindor named Nicholas Vane and she had said yes even though she barely knew the bloke. Gemma had never been in a relationship before, but at a Summer ball held in her fourth year, she had gone with a boy whom she had kissed then, but they had both agreed not to become a couple.

At the Yule ball in her sixth year, Nicholas and she had danced a lot together and Gemma had begun to really like him. When Nicholas then kissed her, she felt almost happier than ever. But Nicholas had never made an intention to speak to her after that night. He basically ignored her causing Gemma to feel stupid and naïve. Nicholas never apologized for his behavior and Gemma hadn't heard anything about him since he left the school.

"Vane was a dick, Gemma, and you know it," Jackie said, looking sincerely at her friend.

"Yeah, well, I think I'll go stag to this ball."

"What if the guy of your dreams asks you to go with him?" Lily challenged.

"That's never going to happen seeing as the guy of my dreams doesn't attend Hogwarts."

"Hey! I'm right here, Gemma! How can you say that I don't attend Hogwarts?" Gemma heard Sirius say behind her.

"Sirius, you're only the guy of my nightmares," Gemma smiled as she turned around to face the grinning boy.

"At least that means you still dream about me," Sirius winked to which Gemma rolled her eyes. "But why are you planning to go stag, Gems?"

"Because I'm not that kind of girl who needs a boy to go with her to some ball."

"Oh, right. You're independent," Sirius nodded mock-understandingly.

"Yes, I am. But I reckon you're going to bring a whole herd of girls to the ball." Sirius shrugged.

"You never know," he said cryptically. "But I gotta go to Quidditch practice now. See ya Gems! You coming, Moore?" Sirius looked at Taylor who nodded with a "in a few". And so Sirius left the girls and headed out of the common room with a sports bag in his hand and James by his side.

"I find it funny that you're all of a sudden friends with the Marauders, yet it feels like you've been best mates forever. It confuses me," Jackie mused and Lily and Taylor nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I know. I don't even really remember how and why we suddenly became friends. It just happened," Gemma said with a smile.

"But I gotta go too, girls. You'll most likely be asleep when I come back – Potter's a total tyrant when it comes to Quidditch – so good night!" Taylor said cheerfully.

"Night, Taylor! Enjoy practice!" Gemma, Jackie and Lily all saluted their best friend.

"Hey, Gemma?" The Marauders had taken Gemma to the kitchen of Hogwarts in hopes of surprising her, but they had been disappointed to learn that Gemma and the girls had known how to enter the kitchens since third year. To ease their disappointment they had asked the house-elves nicely for a chocolate cake, which they now were eating, sitting on the two worn-out couches by the small fireplace.

"Yeah, James?"

"Do you think that it would be okay for me to ask Lily to go with me to the Halloween ball?" This question took Gemma by surprise. Her mind began spinning with ideas for an answer.

"Umm. Perhaps," she answered vaguely. James looked at her with an expression that made her feel guilty. "I mean, yes, I think that you can. Just be genuine and nice, don't make a big public deal about it and keep up with the non-arrogant thing you have going – by the way, where did that come from? The whole non-arrogant thing, I mean," Gemma asked. James' face had lit up as soon as Gemma had said yes.

"Well, I thought that maybe Lily would think better of me if I didn't act like a giant git all of the time."

"Actually, it was me who advised you to do so," Remus corrected his friend.

"Thought so," Gemma crinkled her nose with a smile.

"But has it worked?" Sirius asked.

"It actually has." James's smile was growing bigger by the second. "Jackie, Taylor and I are all sure that Lily's starting to warm up to you, just a little bit at least."

"So she might say yes if I ask her to the ball?"

"Yeah, she might," Gemma smiled. James let a whoop of happiness escape his lips as he fist-pounded in the air.

"Then I'll ask her tonight!"

"But just remember: be nice, don't be arrogant and don't overdo it like making some big scene or showering her with flowers – just keep it simple." James nodded seriously as if it were an important mission. He was actually nervous about asking Lily all of a sudden, but he still couldn't wait to do it.

The whole thing ended in a minor disaster though. In the end, Gemma deeply regretted telling James that he could ask Lily out and James deeply regretted what he had done.

Lily had denied James' offer, not harshly, actually more like sadly. Brandon O'Conner, a seventh year Hufflepuff had apparently asked Lily a couple of hours before and she had accepted his offer. James had returned to the common room, a miserable look on his face.

"James! What happened?" Gemma had asked when she saw him.

"She's already gotten a date," James had answered, sorrow clear in his voice and eyes, although he had seemed to want to hide it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, James! I had no idea that she already had plans! Oh my Gods, this is my entire fault!" Gemma had franticly apologized, guilt already beginning to consume her, but James had silenced her.

"It's alright, Gemma, as you said: you didn't know. And at least she didn't yell at me at all. But I'll just be heading up." And so James had left Gemma in the common room, trudging up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

However, in his miserable state, James had made a decision that he later would regret. A decision that landed Brandon O'Connor, Lily's date, humiliated in the middle of the Great Hall, wearing nothing but frilly pink underwear and a matching bra. Everyone had laughed as Brandon ran out of the Great Hall, his entire face redder than a tomato. Of course not _everyone_ had laughed. The teachers had not, neither had a lot of the Hufflepuff's and Lily was fuming as she had a great idea as to who was responsible for her Halloween ball-date being humiliated in front of the entire school.

"JAMES GIT-HEADED POTTER! HOW COULD YOU DARE DO SUCH A THING! AND DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT DENYING IT, I KNOW THAT IT WAS YOU WHO DID IT!" And that's how Lily's scolding began in the Gryffindor common room. Gemma could see that James had now put up his shield, so to speak. He had an arrogant expression on his face and was smirking at Lily though inside he was crumbling to pieces.

"JUST BECAUSE BRANDON ASKED ME OUT IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN PUBLICLY HUMILIATE HIM! I'M NOT YOURS POTTER – WHEN WILL YOU GET THAT INTO YOUR STUPID BIG HEAD? AND YOU KNOW WHAT? I ACTUALLY THOUGHT THAT YOU HAD CHANGED! I THOUGHT THAT YOU COULD BE A DECENT GUY! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT YOU ARE ONLY A STUPID GIT THROUGH AND THROUGH!"

And with that, Lily stormed up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Taylor and Jackie followed her and Gemma went over to James, shaking her head disapprovingly. She thought that what James had done had been utterly foolish but she couldn't blame him for doing what he had done. He had been miserable and Brandon had in a way been at fault for his misery. And it was in James' nature to get back at those who hurt him, so he tended to act before he thought of the consequences of his actions.

"James…" The blond didn't know what to say. She could see in James' eyes that he deeply regretted what he had done, and that he inside was tearing himself apart. She didn't want to hurt his feelings even further. The rest of the Marauders joined the two and Sirius clapped his best mate on the back.

"What should I do?" came James' quiet voice, laced with vulnerability. "Apologize to her?" Gemma shook her head.

"No. I would advise you to avoid her. But then again, I'm not the best adviser am I? I've always been bad at such stuff. I just, well, I just don't really know that much about relationships," Gemma began to ramble but Sirius pushed her slightly, in a friendly manner, causing her to stop talking. She closed her eyes for a second and then looked James in the eyes though the sorrow they contained pained her inside. "If you want to get back on track to getting in to Lily's good books, I think that you should apologize to Brandon."

**Stupid, stupid James, eh? :)  
I have a sad announcement to make (not **_**that **_**sad): I've been able to update quite frequently up until now seeing as I had already written a lot of the chapters and only needed to post them, but from now on, updates might not come along as quickly seeing as I haven't yet written the chapters :(**

**Thank you again for reading! And now I don't care if I sound needy or desperate, because I really want reviews so that I know what I'm doing right and what I could do better! **


	13. Befuddled

**It took a while to write this chapter, I know, but I'm thinking about updating once, occasionally twice a week. But I hope you like this chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter...**

**Chapter 13 **

"He's such an idiot!..."

"Lily, just forget about Potter!"

"…I just cannot believe him!..."

"Lily, calm down!"

"… How can anyone be so stupid?..." It was crystal clear that Lily wasn't, nor did she intend to listen to her friends' pleas for her to calm down. The red-head was mindlessly, and angrily pacing the room whilst Jackie and Taylor sat on the latter's bed when Gemma entered the dormitory.

"Gemma, I cannot understand how you can tolerate his huge head and awful ways, let alone be friends with him!" Lily turned to Gemma as soon as the door opened. The blond girl simply stood in the open doorway, not knowing what to say. Words from her mouth were not needed though, as Lily continued to rant about James' horrible behavior.

"He's the most despicable human-being ever to walk this planet, I tell you! Brandon has done nothing to him, yet Potter finds it amusing to humiliate him in such an awful way!"

"I know that what James did was stupid, but he had his reasons," Gemma spoke up, as she felt the obligation of having to defend her friend. Lily stared at her in befuddlement.

"And what on earth would be good enough a reason to transform Brandon's clothes into hideous women's underwear?"

"He… he was unhappy that you had declined his offer to go to the ball with him because you'll be going with Brandon. And well, I don't know how James' brain works, but he apparently felt a need to take his anger out on Brandon," Gemma said, surprised that she had actually managed to find words for James' actions.

"As if that's a good reason! That boy, or should I call him pig, should learn to control his goddamn actions!"

"But Lily, honestly, isn't what he did something you would've expected him to do? Him pranking students isn't exactly new, is it?" Gemma raised her eyebrows, only raising one being a talent she had never achieved.

"But he's Head Boy! Why Professor Dumbledore chose him, will forever stay a mystery! But why are you so keen on defending him, Gemma?" Narrowed eyes fell upon Gemma's face and the blonde felt uncomfortable. Fights with her friends only happened occasionally and they were more like disagreements than actual fights.

"Because he's my friend, of course! Don't you defend your friends?" Gemma raised her voice just a smidgen, and it was barely noticeable. The anger radiating off of Lily had begun slithering in to Gemma's mind and words.

"Of course I defend my friends! But unlike you apparently, I know which friends are good and which are bad!"

"Oh yes, and Snivellious was such a great example of that!" Gemma knew that she was crossing a line as soon as she mentioned Snape. Taylor and Jackie both looked at her in shock, earlier having observed the argument in silence and with no expression but sadness on their faces. "And Lily, aren't you the one who says that there's something good in everyone?" Gemma said more quietly, trying to divert the argument from her mentioning of Snape.

"Yes, well, I was wrong! And I guess Snape was a mistake on my part but it's not my fault that he called me a mudblood!" Lily's eyes were not filled with tears but she could feel them coming.

"And I doubt that James is going to call me a mudblood!"

"That's because you're not! You're a perfect half-blood who has everything she wants! Your life is utterly flawless and apparently being friends with me isn't enough for you! No, you need attention from the Marauders too, now!" The earlier few unwept tears slowly rolled down Lily's cheeks. The comment about her life being flawless and having everything she wanted hurt Gemma, but not as much as the guilt that suddenly developed in the pit of her stomach, at the thought of Lily assuming that she was not good enough a friend for Gemma. Had she really neglected Lily in that way?

"Lily; you're more than good enough a friend for me! I love hanging out with the guys but I couldn't live without being your friend!" Gemma looked sincerely at Lily and wished more than anything for the tears to evaporate. The red-head suddenly flung her arms around Gemma and held her in a strong hug.

"I'm so sorry, Gemma! I didn't mean what I said! I'm just so angry and I don't really know why! I'm angrier than I normally would be and I just…" Lily trailed off but Gemma understood the words that had not been spoken. While they hugged, Jackie and Taylor decided that they felt left out so they too joined in the embrace.

Gemma suddenly burst in to laughter. The others looked at her as if she was a raving lunatic.

"Gods, are we soppy!" She exclaimed in between laughter. Jackie, Taylor and Lily all broke in to smiles and were soon laughing along with their friend as well as laughing at her.

"Yeah, it's like we've been taken out of some horrible, cheesy, drama-filled muggle chick-flick!" Taylor agreed.

"And now for the cliché line: 'so are we friends?' " Gemma held out her hand to Lily, trying to contain her laughter. Lily played along and once again hugged her friend.

"Best friends!" Needless to say, they all broke in to fits of laughter again.

* * *

"So what are you guys going to dress up as for the ball?" The girls were lying on each of their beds, Tuesday evening, all of them sick and tired of doing homework and writing papers, therefor just talking together.

"Dunno," Lily said as an answer to Taylor's question. Jackie and Gemma both shrugged.

"Perhaps we should figure out now," Jacqueline suggested.

"You can do that; my mind has been completely fried after doing that Transfiguration homework and my imagination has burnt to hell along with it," Gemma replied jokingly.

"Haven't any of you ever wanted to dress up in some way but were too afraid of looking utterly stupid or of being scolded by the professors?" Jackie questioned.

"Well, I've always wanted to not wear the school uniform for lessons but I guess that going to the ball in my regular clothes is kinda boring," Lily answered.

"Oh, Lily! I know exactly what you should be!" Taylor shot up in her bed, looking eagerly at Lily, after a few minutes of pondering silence.

"What?"

"Well, you want to work for St. Mungo's, right?" Lily nodded. "Instead of dressing up as a healer, you should totally dress up like a muggle nurse, you know, with the hat-thingy, the red cross and everything!" Lily pondered over the suggestion before she grinned at Taylor.

"You're brilliant, Tay-Tay! I'm totally going to be muggle nurse!"

"Glad to be of assistance. Now what do I want to be when I grow up?" Taylor asked herself.

"Quidditch player?" Jackie said in a questioning way.

"But isn't it kinda boring to show up in my quidditch robes?" The girls all fell silent as they wracked their brains for what Taylor's costume should be.

"I know, I know, I know!" Gemma exclaimed childishly after a while of brain-wracking. "You would be a kick-ass muggle cheerleader."

"Taylor smirked a one-sided smirk as she nodded. "That's true. Not such a bad idea, Gemma."

"I'm brilliant, I know," Gemma nodded not-so-humbly. "Now what should I dress up as?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Gemma looked at Jackie questioningly. She did not see the apparently obvious choice.

"It is?"

"Come on, you have a side to you that you've never really shown through clothes and appearance and you totally should!"

"What do you mean?" Jackie sighed at her friend's lack of thinking.

"You should dress of as a hard-core punker, of course!" Gemma pictured herself as some punker and began grinning at the idea.

"Of course I should," she agreed smilingly.

"Now we only need to figure out an attire for you, Jackie," Lily pointed out.

"I think I already know what I'm gonna be."

"Do tell us then," Taylor encouraged.

"Well, you guys know how some people always say that I 'get around', so how about, just for one night, I actually dress up like someone who 'gets around'?"

"You mean, like a slut?" Gemma deadpanned.

"Yep. It isn't violating any rules, is it?"

"No, I guess not. Some of the professors might frown upon it, but…" Lily trailed off.

"They frown upon me anyways," Jackie waved it off with a smile.

"So you'll go as a slut, I'll go as a punker, Lily, you'll go as a muggle nurse, and Taylor a cheerleader!" Gemma summed it up. The girls all nodded in approval. Jackie, being a half-blood and therefor without much knowledge of muggles, felt the need to ask a question though.

"By the way, what exactly is a cheerleader?"

* * *

Gemma made sure to spend loads of time with the girls that week, thinking it would help making it up to Lily, for all of the time she had spent with the Marauders. But she couldn't bring herself to neglect the boys entirely either, so Thursday afternoon, while Taylor was with Jared, Jackie with some random bloke and Lily in the library, Gemma sat with the Marauders at the fireplace in Gryffindor common room, just hanging out together.

"So, James, have you apologized to Brandon yet?" asked Gemma while reaching for a chocolate frog on the coffee table.

"Um, no, but I know exactly what I'm going to do." Gemma did not notice the smirk on Sirius and Peter's faces.

"Well, you better do it before the month is out."

"Oh, I will," James replied cryptically. All of a sudden, Sirius burst out laughing beside of Gemma, causing her to suspect that something was going on.

"Is there something I should know about?"

"No, no, I'm just laughing for no apparent reason," Sirius failed to cover up.

"James? I thought I told you yesterday to keep the apology simple and non-humiliating for him or Lily."

"It is and isn't! I mean, it's simple and it's not humiliating for either of _them._"

"So, you swear that you aren't up to no good?" Immediately, all four of the boys' heads shot to Gemma, each of them with a shocked expression. "What?"

"What do you know?" Peter asked skeptically.

"What do you mean?"

"If you know what he meant then you know something, if you don't know anything then you don't know what he meant," Sirius confusingly explained.

"Okayyy… I don't know anything, including whatever he meant, excluding all of my knowledge about stuff that isn't this conversation," Gemma said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Sirius gave her a last suspecting glance and then nodded.

"Okay, you don't know. But I guess it wouldn't be the worst if you did." Then simultaneously all of the boys began grinning and Gemma decided to give up on finding out what the meaning behind their conversation was, and instead just rolled her eyes.

"You lot are weird."

Sirius' grin soon after ceased to an absentminded smile as he gazed at Gemma. He had never thought that he would ever enjoy spending time with a girl in no more than a friendly way as much as he enjoyed spending time with Gemma. He sometimes wondered why they had waited six years to really get to know each other, and he regretted never seeking her attention before.

But even though he tried to hide it, and tell himself that it wasn't true, Sirius was beginning to fear that he soon would feel more for Gemma than just friendly feelings. He often caught himself smiling by just looking at her or even only thinking about her. He loved the way her eyes would light up when she smiled, how her laugh was silent yet with loud grunts, snorts and splutters, how she would tap her feet along with the music and how she was different from everybody else, but never used it to her advantage by bragging about it and always wanting the spotlight. Quite frankly, Sirius could go on and on about the things he loved about her, but he wouldn't allow himself to do so. He would never admit to himself that his feelings for Gemma were getting stronger, for he was afraid that he would act stupidly upon it. Nonetheless steeling glances at her every once in a while was something Sirius couldn't stop himself from doing.

"Hey, Gemma, who are you going to the ball with?" Peter asked.

"She's already told us that she's going stag, Wormy," Sirius answered before Gemma even opened her mouth.

"Only you heard me say that, and I can speak for myself, Sirius," Gemma mock-glared at said boy. "But yes, Peter, I'm going stag to the ball. Besides, it's a lot funnier not having to think about what my date wants to do, and what my date might think about me and so on and so forth. Going alone brings you so much freedom," she ended with a chuckle.

"Hmm, perhaps I should try it," Sirius pondered. Remus looked at him in shock.

"Did you just imply that you would willingly go to a party without snogging the brain out of some girl?"

"No, Moony, I said that I would _go _to the party alone – I never said anything about leaving it without a bit of fun," Sirius gave his friend a wolfish grin.

"If only there was anything we could do to save this poor, sinful, whoring soul," Gemma shook her head, mock-sadly at James.

"If only," James agreed.

"Hey, I'm not a 'whoring' soul!" Sirius whined.

"Whatever floats your boat," Gemma smirked.

"Fine. I'll go to the damn ball alone and keep my hands of every girl the entire night, just to prove it to you. Although I would like permission to dance with a girl," Sirius added.

"Deal," James smirked at his friend.

"Great! So, Gemma, I guess we'll be going stag together!" Gemma looked at Sirius as if she dreaded the idea.

"Why, Merlin, why?" Sirius just hugged Gemma from the side, well-knowing that she was only joking. Truth be told, he was looking forward to the ball even more now, knowing that he would be going alone with Gemma. He had to remind himself though, that there was a difference between going alone together and going on a date together. At James' comment he also had to remind himself that he had to stop thinking about Gemma as other than a friend.

"That's what you wanted all along, Pads! To go to the ball with Gemma – date or not – because you luuurv her!" But Sirius was smart enough to know that immediately denying it would only cause suspicion, so he decided to act on it instead.

"Oh no! How could you have found out?! Gemma and I intended on it to be kept a secret!"

"I cannot believe that they all know of our feeling for each other now!" Sirius smiled as Gemma played along. He loved how she was always open for spontaneous acts and over-dramatically scenes that may or may not have been parodies on cheesy romance novels and boy-obsessed teenage girls.

Admitting to himself all of the things he enjoyed and loved about Gemma was hard but Sirius allowed himself to do it. Admitting that he might have feelings for the wonderful girl, was something that would never happen as long as he had his way – but that didn't mean that the feelings weren't still there, and they were causing great befuddlement in the young wizard's mind.


	14. Alternative Apology

**Sorry, this took a while; I just started reading a whole lot this past week and didn't have time to write. The funny thing is, three of the books I read were about a girl named ****Gemma**** Doyle and to top it there was a woman named Miss ****Moore****, just like Taylor :) If you know of the books then I'll have you know that I have never meant to steal these names – it was pure coincidence. And Merlin, I love these books now – along with Shutter Island which was another book I read this past week. Well, on with the story, eh? **

**Disclaimer: I think you've got the drill now – I don't own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 14 **

Three girls occupied the messy dormitory, putting on clothes, applying make-up, finding jewelry and so on and so forth. The fourth girl that usually occupied the room as well was in the shower, her three friends ushering her to hurry up. But Gemma simply could not see why she needed two hours to get ready for the Halloween ball.

The utterly stressless girl stepped out of the bathroom in only her underwear and bra, after drying her long golden blond hair. On Gemma's bed lay the clothes she was to wear for the ball, neatly put there by Jackie. Gemma's costume consisted of a ragged black dress that went to the middle of her thigh were it ended in ruffles. On top, she would wear a black corset and she would also clip a few chains to her dress. Her legs were to sport fishnet stockings with larger random holes here and there. Fingerless black gloves would envelope Gemma's arms, and gothic fingerings with sculls, crosses and the likes would decorate her elegant hands.

Gemma stepped in to the chosen attire with the help of Lily, but at Jackie's words waited to put on the gloves as she needed her fingernails painted black. It only took Gemma nine minutes to put on her clothes and she looked mock-angrily at Jackie.

"You said I would need two hours to get ready! And look: I'm done after only ten minutes!"

"You're far from done! As I said, I have to paint your nails _and _you need make-up on _and _I have to style your hair!" Gemma sighed.

"It's always nice to hear that you need make-up." The others ignored her remark. "But what about you, Taylor? Why are you going all bananas with preparation as well? I thought you were more like me! That you were sane!"

"That was before I got a boyfriend, and if you don't mind, I would like to look good for Jared," Taylor replied.

"Ugh. What if I do mind?" Again, Gemma's remark was ignored.

"Just wait 'till you get a boyfriend," Lily said in a sing-song voice.

"We all know that I'll never ge…" Gemma was interrupted by a tapping on the window. She looked up and saw Jackie's golden brown owl outside of the tower, a letter wrapped to his leg.

"Bernie! Gemma, could you open up for him while I finish my hair?" Jackie asked as she added a bit more curl to her hair. Jackie had gone through with her slut-idea, but had decided not to go all-out with it. She wore a tight pink belly-button shirt and a black short and also tight skirt. But with layers of make-up, 7 inches high heels (Gemma had no idea how Jackie could walk in them) and her gorgeous, sexy body, as Lily had called it, Jackie did manage to look quite the slut.

Gemma groaned again, but nonetheless headed over to the window, momentarily forgetting the fact that Bernie hated her as well as most other animals. She was reminded though, when Bernie greeted Gemma with an evil squawk and a long cut down her left arm.

"Bloody, fucking bird! What the hell was that for?" Gemma screeched as she gasped in pain. Blood was already beginning to seethe past her torn skin.

"Woopsie! Sorry, Gems, I forgot that Bernie loathes you," Jackie apologized jokingly yet friendly as she stood up to retrieve the letter from her family owl.

"Believe me: the feeling's mutual," Gemma seethed through clenched teeth. Lily stood up as well, grabbed her wand and muttered a quick healing spell as well as a cleansing one at Gemma's wound. The bleeding stopped at once, and the gash ceased to be a fine scar.

"My savior! My, you really are a nurse! Though not that mugglish," Gemma cheered over-dramatically.

"I doubt that 'mugglish' is a word," Jackie muttered as she stroked Bernie's feathers.

"Well, it's a good thing that you'll be wearing a glove to hide that scar," Taylor pointed out.

"You can go to Nurse Pomfrey if you want it to disappear, but otherwise it might stay for a couple of years. It was quite deep, really," Lily said.

"You don't say. But I think I'll keep it. It makes me look tough," Gemma joked.

"No, it makes you look like a cutter," Taylor disagreed.

"Hey! Just because I'm emo, it doesn't mean I cut! Stop stereo-typing people!" Gemma said, once again over-dramatically.

"You really are a drama-queen," Jackie said with a smile. "Now, sit down and let me make you look like a hard-core punker instead." Gemma complied and sat down with a mock-pout.

"Who was the letter from?" Lily asked.

"My mum. But I'll read it later."

After one and a half hour, all four of the girls were ready for the ball. Lily looked great as a nurse and Taylor looked quite sexy as well in her cheer-leader costume; not as sexy as Jackie of course. Gemma almost didn't recognize herself as she looked in the mirror, cliché as that might sound. Her hair was dead straight, except for her diagonal bangs which in true punker-style fell over her eyes while puffing out. The girls had contemplated on dying it black, and after a while they had decided to go through with it; only for the one night of course.

Gemma's eyes were encircled in darkness, causing her blue-grey orbs to stand out almost frighteningly. Her skin was nearly ghostly pail and the make-up caused her cheekbones to look a lot sharper. Gemma's lips were plump and dark red, her teeth looking pearl white in the contrast. Unfortunately, Gemma didn't have the prettiest of teeth. Her front teeth were large and square-shaped with a little gap between them, and some of her other teeth were slightly crooked and ugly placed. But Gemma had always been told that her smile only added to her charm.

The jewelry that Gemma wore was overall what you would expect of a punker to wear. Gothic and dark. Her boots went a bit above her ankles and were black as well, with zippers, silver buckles, small chains and rivets.

Overall, Gemma looked pretty much like the average punker and she loved it. A part of her even wanted to dress in such ways every day.

* * *

Hogwarts was as decorated as a Christmas tree, although instead of elves and angels hanging on the walls, skeletons and ghastly creatures appeared from the dark corners. Gemma couldn't help but feel kind of spooked as she and the girls strolled through the corridors on their way to the Great Hall.

Lily, due to being Head Girl, had helped decorate the castle, and she was excited for her friends' reaction to the transformed Great Hall. To put it in few words, it was the familiar and spooky sight of Halloween.

Taylor, Lily and Jackie's dates soon arrived and they each complemented the girls with great eagerness (Jackie's date was as red as a tomato when he saw her costume). Gemma's smile shamefully faded as she was reminded that no one would be there to complement her.

_You dug your own grave, now do well to sleep in it… or is it, 'make your own bed'? _Gemma shook her head as to empty it of thoughts.

Not wanting to be a burden, or much less a tag-along, Gemma left her friends and their dates, stating with a smile that they would most likely bump into each other sooner or later. But Gemma did not wander alone for long, feeling out of place, as she spotted Sirius and Remus nearby. Neither of them acknowledged her though, which struck her as odd.

"Ello peeps!" They spun around and looked at Gemma oddly. Sirius was dressed in a smug black tuxedo, wearing black sunglasses and looking particularly handsome. Remus, Gemma guessed, was dressed up as Count Dracula.

"And who might you be, babe?" Sirius, of course, asked all charmingly. Gemma blinked and then suddenly realization dawned upon her. They didn't recognize her! Well, she couldn't exactly blame them.

"I'm Gemma, of course! And please don't call me babe again, Sirius, I'm eighteen, not two," Gemma laughed.

"Gemma?" Sirius stared dumbly at her.

"You sure look different! And you've dyed your hair!" Remus pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I'm a punker – it seems fit that I have black hair instead of blond!"

Sirius continued to stare at her. He had never imagined Gemma dressing like this, but it was obvious to any eye that it suited her. And Sirius couldn't help that his heart began to pound faster as he noticed Gemma's beauty even further.

_Curse you, damn thoughts!_

"Well, you look great," Remus complemented. Gemma's ears grew a little red. She wasn't quite used to getting complements and certainly not from boys.

"Thank you, Remus – or should I say Count Dracula?" Remus chuckled and explained that the story of the vampire from Transylvania had always been one of his favorites.

"You seem quiet, Sirius," Gemma stated. The animagus snapped out of his trance-like state and mentally shook his head.

_Come on, Sirius. What would normal you say, hmm? The guy that isn't a stupid fool who may or may not have a crush on his friend._

"Being quiet is part of my role. I'm meant to listen, observe and remember."

"And what, pray tell, is your role?"

"I can't say."

"And why not?"

"Well, a secret agent shouldn't reveal himself, now should he?"

"Of course not," Gemma smiled slyly. "So, where are James and Peter?"

"Peter's most likely at the snack table, he's dressed like a Chinese guy, by the way; something to do with Chinese rhyming with cheese…" Remus trailed off.

"And James you'll see for yourself soon. Ah, he's right there actually," Sirius couldn't suppress his laughter as he pointed at James. And when Gemma saw him, her eyes widened and soon she too was laughing – along with most of the school.

Entirely tomato-red in the face, James stood near Lily and Brandon who soon noticed him as well. Neither of them could hold back their laughter either as they saw James' horrible costume.

He was nearly naked, except for a pair of pink, frilly, women's knickers and a matching bra. He even wore high-heels and make-up. It was a horrid sight, needless to say, yet a hilarious sight just the same.

But then James began to speak to Brandon, and everyone was startled as they heard the words leave his mouth.

"Brandon, it's safe to say that never in my life have I ever felt as humiliated as I do right now. And so, I apologize for doing this to you a couple of weeks ago, for I now know how utterly horrible it is to have to wear nothing but women's underwear in public. I was a git for doing it, and I really mean what I say.

"I'm sorry, Brandon."

And with that, James tried to run, but failed and tripped due to the high-heels, yet he eventually made it to the exit of the Great Hall, laughter and utter humiliation following him all the way. Gemma felt a little bad, but she couldn't help but laugh as well.

"I'm proud to say that that was my idea," Sirius smirked as he leaned down to Gemma. He didn't feel bad for his friend because James had eagerly agreed to dress up in women's lingerie as an apology to Brandon – and a way to make Lily warm up to him of course.

"You are a terrible, terrible, terrible genius," Gemma ended with a laugh. Sirius couldn't help but blush the slightest at her complement; neither could he help himself from enjoying the sound of her laugh.

_Great, you're acting like a goddamn little school-girl now. That's just fucking fantastic. _

Although James' little big scene was nearly all everyone could think of, the party proceeded and many started to dance and eventually forgot all about James, who sadly didn't turn up again for quite a while.

Remus excused himself to go talk to the seventh-year Hufflepuff prefect, thus Sirius and Gemma were left alone.

"So, do you regret your decision of not being allowed to stick your tongue down a girl's throat?" Gemma asked playfully.

_No, but I would love to stick my tongue down your throat… Wait, what the fuck?_

"No, not yet. Care to dance?" Sirius tried to forget about the thought that had just entered his mind.

"Sure. I suck at couple dancing though – don't say I didn't warn you."

Sirius led Gemma out on the dance floor and placed his arms around her waist as she clasped hers around his neck, just like all of the other couples on the floor. Sirius was already beginning to both love and regret his decision. The image of kissing Gemma was stuck in his head and it was all he could do not to dip down and claim her lips right then and there. A frown shadowed his face as he struggled not to do something he would regret.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine. Perfect really." Sirius gave Gemma a reassuring smile.

The two friends barely moved as they simply swayed back and forth on the spot.

_Why the fuck does this song have to be so slow? _Sirius thought angrily. The closeness frightened him.

The song soon ended though, and although Sirius wanted nothing more than to stay there with Gemma in his arms, he led her off the dance floor, sure that he wouldn't be able to keep a hold of himself if he had to be so close to Gemma for another minute.

"Am I really that bad a dancer?" Gemma asked playfully. Sirius merely laughed and shook his head. They soon spotted Taylor, Jared, Jackie and her date, all standing by the drinks table talking.

"How's it going?" Gemma greeted her friends.

"Great. D'you see James' little show for Brandon?" Taylor added with a smirk.

"Oh, yes, we saw that. I do hope that both Brandon and Lily forgive him, or else he might drown himself from mere humiliation," Gemma joked.

"I'm just mad at him for topping my costume. He was a much better slut than I'll ever be," Jackie kidded, earning a laugh from the other five.

"D'you think that he'll return to the party?" Jared questioned.

"Yeah, he just had to change he's costume, I think," Sirius replied.

"You're never going to let him forget it, are you?"

"Most likely not," Sirius smiled charmingly at Gemma, a smile which she returned.

Taylor was about to say something when a girl from Gryffindor in the year below them appeared by Sirius' side. A beautiful brunette at that.

"Oh, Sirius! I was wondering if you'd like to dance. With me?"

"Uhh…" Sirius didn't know what to answer. He had no desire to dance with the girl, certainly not when it meant that he'd have to leave Gemma. But it was Gemma exactly who answered for Sirius, and her answer was just another stab to his heart, as it reminded him that Gemma only thought of him as a friend.

"Sure, he'd love to dance with you! But I'm afraid he's not allowed to snog anyone tonight." Gemma meant it as a joke, but as Sirius went to dance with the brunette girl, he couldn't help but grumble over the fact that Gemma didn't care that he was dancing with someone else.

**Poor Sirius… Well, I probably don't have the right to pity him – it's my fault his miserable. **

**There are a few things I would like to know, and I would be overly joyful if you'd leave a review with an answer.  
- Am I moving too slowly forward with the story? Is it boring?  
- Does the story seem too happy and easygoing? Well, I can say that next chapter won't be that happy but…  
- Is there anything that bothers you with the way I write? Something I could do better?  
- And simply, do you think that there's anything missing in the story?**

**I understand if you don't know how to answer my questions – sometimes you know how you feel about something but you just can't put words to it :) Anyways, thank you for reading and thank you SO MUCH to all who have reviewed!**


	15. Why Can't We Just Fly Instead?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter…**

**Chapter 15**

_The wind was light and was hardly felt. Dressed in a beautiful black dress, the young woman ran through the forest, laughing as if there were no troubles in the world. She had always loved the forest. There was something about the smell of the trees and all of the unknown secrets that every leaf, every branch kept. But what she truly loved was the mysterious feeling of freedom. In an open meadow, freedom too would come easy, but no secrets could be hidden in the open plains. There were no places to hide, no dark corners that could let the imagination run freely. The forest, however, was full of them. The forest was a world of imagination to the young woman, a world where anything could come true. _

_The sun shined through the holes of the leaves, leaving specks and spots of light on the forest path. Birds chirped happily in the tree tops, and the woman swore she saw a squirrel or two, running freely in the forest like her. _

_She came to a clearing in the middle of the many tall trees. A small lake, more like a large pond, enjoyed the sun in the middle of the tree-empty spot. With her bare feet, the woman skipped to the edge of the water, where she smiled at the reflection that should've been there. But her face did not appear in the sunbathed water. For some reason, this did not strike her as odd. It was as if she had expected it. _

_The young woman laughed as she saw a brilliant green fish, spring from the water, only to splash back down. Another laugh joined her. The laugh of a young man._

_Warm and familiar arms encircled the woman's waist, and she leaned back into the warmth of the man behind her. His breath tickled her ear, causing her to laugh. He spun her around at the joyful sound, and placed a loving kiss on her smiling lips. _

_Behind closed eyes; the woman did not imagine sparks or fireworks, but a million twinkling stars, all shining as bright as the smile on her lips and the happiness that flowed inside her. She could stay there forever, wrapped in her beloved's arms, his soft lips on her own. But as the kiss grew more heated, the stars behind her closed eyes became red. They no longer twinkled in the same fashion, but seemed to turn on and off, on and off. A beeping sound that felt so out of place, accompanied the earlier stars that now only resembled red lights. And as much as she wanted to open her eyes, look at her beloved one last time before they said goodbye, the woman opened her eyes to an entirely different place. _

Gemma awoke to the sound of her alarm clock. She groaned and rolled over, stuck her hand out behind the curtain and turned off the devil's invention with a lazy, yet hard push of the hand. However, a giddy smile was stuck on her sleepy face. It definitely had nothing to do with the fact that it was Monday morning, but everything to do with the lovely dream she had had.

Suddenly Gemma's eyes widened. Had she just had a romantic dream? And quite a cliché one at that. But even though she felt too girlish and giddy, Gemma couldn't help but feel that it had been one of the best dreams ever. Neither could she help the bubbling wish of being held by the nameless man again.

"You know, Gemma, the reason we've given you an alarm clock isn't just so that you can turn it off, but also so that you can get up," Taylor joked as she pulled the curtains on Gemma's bed, allowing the faint sunlight to fall upon the smiling girl's face. "What'cha smiling at? You are aware of the fact that it's Monday, right?"

"Yeah," Gemma replied with a dreamy voice. "I just had this wonderful dream, that's all."

"Oooh, what was it about?" Jackie entered the conversation. Lily was still in her bed, in that state where you're both awake yet sleeping.

"Umm, I don't really remember…" Gemma - always one to proudly say that she wasn't girly - didn't want to admit that she had indeed had quite a girly dream.

"Was it about a boy?" Jackie pried all-knowingly, slightly dragging out the word boy. Gemma couldn't help but blush, and both Jackie and Taylor laughed.

"There's no point in denying it, Gems – you're just as much a girl as the rest of us!" Taylor teased.

"Great, now you've ruined my good mood," Gemma grumbled as she stood out of her bed and headed for the bathroom for a shower. But Jackie and Taylor only laughed harder as they noticed a slight happy and giddy spring in Gemma's steps.

Gemma slammed the door behind her.

* * *

James' creative apology had given Lily much frustration. Not directed at James, but at herself. Through the entire ball, all she really could think about was James, and she felt awful for doing so. It didn't really help that after James had escaped the Great Hall, Brandon had said with a laugh: "I guess he's not the worst bloke afterwards. I know I'd never been able to do that willingly. But I'm just overjoyed that you chose me over him."

Lily no longer knew what to think about James, and it confused her to the highest. But even if she did have, Merlin forbid, the slightest of feelings for James (which she again and again denied herself), wouldn't she be an awful person for just pushing Brandon to the side?

Although Lily's evening had been a mess of thoughts, Gemma had had a wonderful time. Sirius had seemed distant at times, as if he were in deep thought, but he and Gemma managed to have a great time together, and Sirius had completed his task; he had not kissed a single girl, although in the darkest corners of his mind, he had kissed Gemma over a hundred times. So it seemed that like Lily's, Sirius' evening had been a terrible mess of confused thoughts.

* * *

Monday afternoon proposed a cloudy sky and a chilly wind. But it was nice weather compared to the cold days they had ahead of them. Winter in northern Scotland was an extremely cold time. So to enjoy one of the last warmer (meaning freezing cold without snow or rain) days, James asked Gemma if she was up for a game of Quidditch with him and Sirius. Taylor had heard and immediately asked if she could join. And so that's why Gemma found herself up in the air, smiling widely as she flew around on her Cleansweep three. She hadn't flown in quite a while, and truly enjoyed the feeling of it. There was just something so indescribable about feeling the wind whip her face as she took on more and more speed.

But as Taylor came along with a quaffle, Gemma's smile ceased to a frown.

"Do we _have _to play quidditch? Can't we just fly around instead?"

"Where's the fun in that?" James looked at Gemma as if she had just proposed snogging the giant squid.

"There's plenty of fun in just flying around!" Taylor's laugh reached Gemma's ears, as well as James' and Sirius'.

"Gemma sucks at playing quidditch!" She exclaimed and Gemma's ears grew red.

"Really?" Sirius smirked. "You seem like a great flyer though."

"Yeah, but if you just as much as suggest throwing a ball my way, I won't be that good a flyer anymore," Gemma said glumly.

"Oh, I just have to see that," James laughed as he pictured Gemma flying all wobbly and unsteadily.

"I always knew that you only wanted to kill me, James!" They all four laughed and Gemma caught Sirius' eye as he looked at her oddly. There was something in his eyes that seemed different than normal and for some reason Gemma found herself blushing.

Much to Gemma's irritation, they ended up playing two-on-two quidditch anyways. The other three teased Gemma by not wanting to be on the same team as her, but in the end James agreed to team up with Gemma.

He regretted it thoroughly.

Gemma was simply awful at quidditch. She continued to drop the quaffle when she finally managed to get ahold of it in the first place. And the three quidditch pros relentlessly teased her with it.

"Hey, Gemma? You're supposed to catch the quaffle, not avoid it!"

"In case you haven't understood, the quaffle has to go _through _the hoop!"

"You suck more at quidditch than Binns sucks at being interesting!"

But the laughing and teasing stopped when they heard a younger girl, no older than twelve, call Taylor and Gemma's names. Taylor was in possession of the quaffle, so she tossed it to James before flying down to the girl with Gemma.

"Why'd you call our names?" Taylor smiled at the obviously shy girl.

"Umm, it's, uh, your friend, Lily, she, uh, told me to tell you that, um, you have to go back to the dormitory as fast as possible, um, because, uh, something awful has happened," the girl managed to stutter out.

"Did she say what?" Gemma asked worried. The girl shook her head. "Well, thank you for telling us." The young girl took that as being dismissed, and relieved, she ran away from the quidditch field.

James and Sirius had heard the short conversation and flew down to Taylor and Gemma who were running to the broom shed to drop off their broomsticks. They were both curious as well as worried as to why Lily wanted Gemma and Taylor to go to their dormitory as quickly as possible.

Together, the four Gryffindors ran back to Hogwarts, but once inside James took ahold of Taylor, and Sirius grabbed Gemma's arm as well.

"What are you doing? We have to hurry!" Taylor gasped. She had nearly fallen when James grabbed her elbow.

"We know a much quicker way to the common room than the hundreds of stairs," Sirius winked at the girls, and so Gemma and Taylor found themselves being led to a portrait of an old red-haired, nearly bald, man with a mustache.

"_Boiled Beetles,_" James spoke to the portrait.

"Always keep an eye out! And always keep your voice down!" The painted man said as he swung to the side. Gemma and Taylor both gaped at the before secret and now revealed passage.

"I thought you said that we have to hurry," Sirius mock-teased as he passed Taylor. The girls decided that a secret passage in Hogwarts wasn't that special anyways, and they followed the boys through the dark passage, the only light they had was the light from their wands.

When they finally came to a closed door, James sneakily opened it and stuck his head out before telling the rest that the coast was clear. And so Gemma stepped out on the seventh floor corridor, merely paces away from the Fat Lady. She couldn't help but wonder how the boys had found the secret passage – and how many more did they know of?

But as the girls ran up the stairs to their dormitory (James and Sirius had to stay in the common room, due to an enchantment that caused the stairs to the girls' dormitories, to turn into a slide if a boy so much as touched it), the only thing on Gemma's mind was what could have happened that had been so urgent. The little girl had said that it was something awful. So hoping for the best, thinking the worst, but not really having any ideas of what had really happened, Gemma and Taylor opened the door to their dormitory, and took in the sight that was awaiting them.

Jackie sat on the floor by her bed, sobbing, as Lily hugged her and told her reassuring and comforting things. The redhead heard the door open, and looked up at Gemma and Taylor. Jackie seemed entirely oblivious.

Gemma was afraid of asking, but the question already hung in the air, and Lily answered before Gemma even opened her mouth.

"Jackie's dad died."

Jacqueline buried her crying face in her hands, as Gemma and Taylor took in the dreadful news. It was as if, a blow of cold wind had slapped them across the face, and hollowed their stomachs. It was as if the sky outside suddenly turned grey, and the atmosphere became nothing but empty. Just empty.

"H-he wa-was mu-ur-urderd!" Jackie cried out. "BY THOSE BLASTED DEATH EATERS!" The sudden wave of anger left, and Jackie continued to weep as she once again buried her face in her hands.

Gemma didn't know what to say. What does one say when somebody dies? There are simply no words left – as if they passed away as well. So instead, Gemma and Taylor both sunk down to their knees by Jackie's side, and along with Lily, they hugged their crying friend. And the simple, loving gesture, seemed to be worth more than a million words.

After a time that could have been hours, but felt like mere minutes, the girls let go of each other as Jackie's crying ceased.

"And what makes it even worse," Jackie gulped, "is that my mum wrote to me about it Saturday afternoon. You remember the letter I got while we were preparing for the ball? Well, I forgot to open it afterwards, but then I noticed it today, lying by my end table. He died Saturday morning but I only found out today!" Silent tears fell down Jackie's cheeks. Gemma couldn't even begin to understand how hard it must be to find out that your father died three days ago, but you didn't know then, because you forgot to open a letter.

"Shh, Jackie, there's nothing to feel guilty about," Lily soothed as she ran her hand through Jackie's hair. "But perhaps we should go to Professor Dumbledore's office. Your mum wrote that the… funeral… will be tomorrow. It's probably best if Dumbledore knows then," Lily tried smiling at Jackie, but failed to even lift the corners of her mouth.

Jackie nodded numbly, and together the girls stood from the floor and headed down to the common room. Gemma went first, as she knew that the guys would be down there, so she could tell them what had happened, to prevent them from asking Jackie questions.

The Marauders were understanding, and James even took Gemma in for a hug, even though she wasn't the one whose father had died. A tear slipped from Gemma's eye though, as she stood in James' embrace. She didn't want the guys to see it, so she quickly wiped it away, said goodbye to them, and left the common room alongside the girls.

Lily, being Head Girl, knew the password to Dumbledore's office (_Roasted Marshmallows_), and the girls went up the stairs to the big door. Only Lily had been there before, and Gemma and Taylor both looked around in awe, while Jackie numbly looked at the ground.

As coincidence would have it, Dumbledore was not the only one in his office. Professor McGonagall was there too, and none other than Jackie's mother, Lynette, was there as well. When she saw her crying daughter, Lynette immediately ran over to her and hugged her, an embrace that Jackie returned with much vigor. The sight caused tears to well in Taylor, Lily and Gemma's eyes. Gemma even swore that she saw a watery veil over McGonagall's eyes as well.

"Wha-what are you doing here, mum?" Jackie's voice was muffled against her mother's shoulder.

"I'm here to take you home for the… funeral. I was so worried when you didn't answer the letter!"

"I-I only, read it today. I'm so sorry!" Jackie cried. Gemma knew that she was only really sorry that she hadn't known of her father's death as soon as it had happened. She knew that Jackie felt as if the last couple of days had been filled with stolen happiness.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, my dear! Nothing at all."

"I must tell you how sad I am for your loss, Miss Edmondson. There is nothing that can dig a deeper hole, than the loss of someone you love. But when it comes to death, I'm afraid there are no wise words, only the love and comfort from those around you – and I see that you have plenty of friends and family to help you there," the Headmaster's eyes twinkled at Jackie, who nodded back sadly.

McGonagall put a hand kindly on Jackie's shoulder, and looked her in the eyes, most sincerely. "I too am most sorry for what has happened, and I do hope that none of you shall dwell in misery for too long." The professor smiled sadly at her student.

A house-elf appeared suddenly, with a bag, which belonged to Jackie, in hand. Gemma assumed that it had been sent to gather a few needed belongings of Jackie's.

The three girls sensed that it was time to say goodbye, and once again they hugged their friend, whispering sweet and comforting words in her ear.

And then she and Mrs. Edmondson were gone in green flames of the magical fire. Taylor, Lily and Gemma left the office, and silently walked through the sudden dim corridors of Hogwarts, none of them wanting to break the somehow comforting silence.

Silence was not what Gemma was seeking after dinner. She needed noise to distract her. She needed words to stop her thoughts. She needed a bit of music. And so she left for the music room while her friends went to the common room.

It seemed almost cliché when Gemma passed a windowsill where a crying girl was sitting, another girl hugging her and comforting her as well as she could. Gemma recognized the crying girl as Olive Teller. The younger Hufflepuff girl. The girl whose family had been brutally murdered a couple of weeks ago. Murdered by those fucking, idiot Death Eaters.

Gemma bit her lip and quickened her pace as she felt tears prick her eyes. Though she had passed Olivia and her friend a few minutes ago, and all was again silent, Gemma could still hear Olivia's sobs in her mind.

With a relieved sigh, Gemma pushed opened the door to the music room, turned on the music and sat down with her head in her hands.

_Don't cry, Gemma. Crying won't help. You're not the one whose family has died. You're not the one who knows of true pain and sorrow. You don't have the _right _to cry._

But tears managed to escape her eyes anyways. And Gemma found herself not caring. Tears aren't reserved for those in true pain or grief. Everyone has the right to cry once in a while, and frankly, everyone has the need to cry once in a while.

The music led Gemma's sad thoughts away, and she lay down on the worn-out couch feeling tired. It was a relief not to think of all the horrible things that were going on out in the world. It was a relief to just let go of all the thoughts of death and loss. But her mind might have been empty, but she could still feel the worry and sorrow inside of her. She could still feel the hate towards the Death Eaters and their idiotic leader.

The door suddenly swung open. But Gemma did not look up to see who had entered. She closed her eyes and hoped that whoever had come would just go away. But soon a hand was resting on Gemma's shoulder, and someone was sitting on the edge of the couch. For some reason, Gemma just knew who it was.

"I'm pathetic, I know. Jackie's the one whose father has died. Nothing's wrong in my life, yet I cry as if everyone I love has died. I don't even know why I'm actually crying!" Gemma's voice broke and the hand began to stroke her shoulder.

"You're crying because you're sad," he said simply. "You're crying because you're a human."

Gemma opened her eyes and looked up at Sirius. She didn't know what to say. All she knew was that she was happy that Sirius was there.

"It seems that this is the place where we find each other all sad and have to cheer the other up," Sirius smiled. The truth was, Sirius feared strong emotions – especially sorrow. He wanted Gemma to stop crying and be happy again, not only because he wanted her to be happy, but shamefully he had to admit, that he was greatly afraid of facing sorrow. He simply did not know what to do with it.

Gemma managed to smile the slightest. She sat up to give Sirius more room, and then leaned against his shoulder. Sirius was suddenly alert for a whole other reason. His heart started beating faster and he prayed that Gemma couldn't feel or hear it. It was tempting to just tell her how he felt about her, but even if he decided to ever tell Gemma, he figured he should do it when she wasn't sad and crying.

_I should just hook up with some other girl and forget about whatever I feel for Gemma._

No more words were spoken that evening. It felt a bit awkward at first, but Gemma decided to just forget about thinking, as did Sirius. And soon they were both asleep, even with the hard music playing right next to them.

**Alrighty, this was a longer chapter, eh? I'll do my best to write longer chapters from now on, but I can't promise that they'll be over five thousand words or so. I simply don't have the time for that, and if I had to write that long chapters, it would take two weeks at least before I updated. **

**Well, I hope you liked this chapter! You might find it weird that Gemma's suddenly all sad and crying, but come on, haven't you ever felt like the world was suddenly falling apart? Well, I've tried it a lot, and I've often found myself in my bed, listening to music and crying for no apparent reason except that I think my life is fucked. And a part of me always feels stupid for doing so, because I don't really have reasons to be sad, compared to a lot of other people. I just call it, being a teenager :) And maybe I am a bit mental...**

**Soooo, totally off topic question, but, are any of you Europeans going to watch the Eurovision Song Contest tonight? I love heavy metal music and I'm not fond of pop, but for some mental reason, ever since I moved from California to Denmark in 2007, I've loved the Eurovision Song Contest :) Well, if you do watch it: VOTE FOR DENMARK! Haha – I don't really expect you to :) Good evening, peeps! **


	16. Up To No Good

**Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. Harry. Potter.**

**Chapter 16 **

Gemma was the first to wake. She knew from the moment she opened her eyes, that she was not in her dormitory, and her pillow was not as much a pillow as it was a pair of legs. But the sun was not yet up, and only a flickering light was cast upon the dark room.

Gemma's eyes felt stuck with dry tears and she rubbed them as she sat up. The movement caused Sirius to stir, but he did not wake. Curious, Gemma checked her watch and saw that it was three O'clock in the night. Deciding that it was best to wake Sirius and sneak back to the common room, Gemma shook him gently, but soon roughly.

"Gods, Sirius, wake up for Merlin's sake!"

Sirius groaned and opened his eyes. He was surprised to see a tired-looking Gemma eyeing him, but then recollections of the evening before soon came to him.

"What time is it?"

"Three O'clock," Gemma informed him. "And I have absolutely no idea how we're going to get back to the common room without being noticed."

"Well, then it's great that I _do _have an idea, ain't it?" Sirius smirked. At Gemma's confused look, Sirius pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket. "This, my friend, is a very important object to us Marauders, and it must be kept a secret. We've decided that it's okay for you to know about it, but you must swear that you will never tell a single soul – living or dead – about it." Gemma continued to stare at her friend, confused.

"Sure… I swear that I will never tell anyone that you carry a useless piece of blank parchment."

"Useless? Blank?" Sirius shook his head. "You'll soon be agreeing with me that calling this work of genius, 'useless' and 'blank' is a load of codswallop.

"Now, take your wand, point it at the parchment and repeat the oath: 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'," Sirius grinned at Gemma, well-knowing that she was most likely thinking that he had gone bonkers. Nonetheless Gemma did as she was told and gasped as fine lines of ink appeared on the once blank parchment. Well, she could now agree with Sirius that it wasn't blank.

" 'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauders map'… Merlin's knickers, did you guys make this?" Gemma looked at Sirius in shock.

"We sure did," Sirius smirked proudly. "And I mean, we _all _made it equally much and Remus certainly didn't do most of the job…" Gemma eagerly took the map in her hands and studied the fine and accurate drawing of Hogwarts. She gasped when she noticed that not only did the map show the castle, it showed the people inside as well.

"This is totally, bloody brilliant! So this must be why you're never – well, rarely – caught when you're up to no good! Gods, with this in our hands, getting back to the common room will be easy as pie!"

"I've never understood that phrase. Pies aren't at all easy to make," Sirius mused, more than happy that Gemma loved the map so much. Gemma wasn't listening to him though.

"And you guys must know a million more secret passages, don't you?! You probably even know a way to get out of the school grounds!"

"Of course we do! But let's save that for another night; I'm fucking tired and would very much like to go to bed soon," Sirius smiled.

"Can I please get this map when we get to the common room?" Gemma joked as she looked mock-pleadingly at Sirius.

"Um, no."

"Please? I swear I'll do anything for you!" As much as Sirius would have like to just say 'kiss me', he laughed and shook his head.

"You know that you'll regret giving me the right to make you do _anything _for me." Gemma laughed at this. "Come on; I'm bloody tired!"

And so Gemma and Sirius ventured out in the corridor, keeping an eye on the map as they snuck up to the Gryffindor common room. The Fat Lady did threaten to tell a professor or Filch, but grudgingly she opened the portrait hole for them, and let them go inside.

"G'night, Gemma," Sirius smiled at the blonde. She surprised him by giving him a short hug, and Sirius would have sworn that his heart was beating so fast that it must have been unhealthy, as he returned the embrace. He hated how much he was beginning to act like a girl.

"Nighty night, Sirius! And thank you for staying with me; I really don't know why I suddenly started crying, I just…" Sirius simply smiled and patted Gemma's shoulder in a friendly manner and Gemma knew that he understood. "Well, don't let the demons of hell come and drag you out of your bed and leave you to suffer in the underworld for all eternity!" Sirius looked at Gemma in surprise, causing Gemma to laugh.

"What the fuck?"

"G'night, Sirius! Enjoy your dreams!" And with that, a chuckling Gemma ascended the stairs to the girls' dormitories, leaving Sirius in the common room, shaking his head with confusion and amusement.

Jackie returned Friday afternoon with much less joy and spontaneousness than she normally carried. Her eyes looked numb and Gemma could only imagine how numb Jackie felt inside. But Jackie did her best not to let her sorrow put a damper on everybody's mood, and she tried to smile even though everybody could see that the small smile on her face was fake.

The day after Jackie's return, the first Saturday in November, marked Gryffindor's first quidditch match. The close friends secretly hoped that this would bring other thoughts to Jackie's mind. Taylor, James and Sirius had all said that the match would be easy enough, seeing as it was against the Hufflepuffs, but Gemma often reminded them that being too cocky was a stupid idea.

The Great Hall buzzed with excitement that morning. All everyone could really talk about was quidditch and those who didn't talk about it, talked about how tired they were of everybody talking about it. Gemma, being friends with three of the Gryffindor quidditch players, fell in the first category.

"Sirius: remember that the Hufflepuffs usually have Kerr aim for goal, seeing as he's the best of their chasers, but whenever he's close to the hoops, he forgets to look at anything else but the hoops; that's when he's vulnerable – that's when you have to aim at him."

"James: remember that this is not the locker room, this is not time for you to spill out tactics; this is the breakfast table – this is when you have to eat!" Gemma mocked James.

"And come one, James; we know how to handle them Hufflepuffs, you don't have to worry that much!" Taylor chuckled.

"Yeah, but Gemma's right; we haven't won the game yet, so acting like we can't lose is not a smart thing to do!"

"Dammit, Gemma, you're the reason he's all tense now," Sirius joked.

Outside, a bit of rain was drizzling down, but not nearly enough to ruin anyone's hopes of a good match. Gemma stood in the crowd with Lily, Jackie, Remus and Peter, cheering for her friends. A good ten minutes into the game, Taylor had scored once, James had scored twice, and the Hufflepuff chaser Ivan Kerr, had scored once.

As Lily and Gemma cheered eagerly, Jackie simply sat there, looking at the game without really watching it. She had wanted to stay in the dormitory, but the girls had made her come along. As Gemma shouted encouraging words, she noticed her friend's obvious sorrow in the corner of her eye. The sight of a sad Jackie was hard to look at, and the sight of a completely miserable Jackie was nearly unbearable.

Gemma waved her hand at Jackie in a 'come here' motion, and at first Jackie didn't react upon it so Gemma took her friend's hand and pulled her up.

"I haven't heard your cheer in far too long, Jackie! Is there a chance that I can hear it again today?" Gemma knew that it was a lot to ask for, and she was about to say that Jackie's father would be more than happy if Jackie was smiling again, but Gemma never understood why people said those things. Jackie's father – dead or alive – would of course always be happy as long as Jackie was. When someone dies, Gemma believed that you shouldn't start doing stuff to honor them – at least no more than you did than when they were alive.

But Jackie simply shrugged as an answer to Gemma's question.

"You know, crying's good for you. You need to cry to wash your eyes so that you can see clearly again. But you need to laugh too, so that you can accept happiness again. I'm not asking you to act like you're happy - if you're not happy then show that you're sad instead of hiding your feelings. But please, just cheer along with us." Jackie looked at Gemma as if she was scared, but then quietly, barely even noticeable, Jackie started chanting along with the others. Gemma couldn't help but smile widely.

Soon all three of the girls were singing loudly as Taylor scored yet another ten points for Gryffindor. Gemma and Lily had both seen that even though Jackie was singing, tears fell from her eyes. They decided not to mention it though seeing as they were more than happy that their friend wasn't holding in her sorrow.

"It seems that Rollins has spotted something… And there she goes! My, what speed that girl has on a broom! One can only imagine what kind of speed she'll have on another _kind_ of _broom_…"

"CLOY! WOULD YOU STOP WITH THOSE INAPPROPRIATE AND REVOLTING COMMENTS RIGHT NOW!" Professor McGonagall yelled at the commentator Billy Cloy from Gryffindor, for about the hundredth time.

"My apologies, Professor. The Gryffindor seeker, Jade Rollins, seems to have spotted the Golden Snitch! She's flying to- WATCH OUT, ROLIINS! Phew, that was a close one! Rotten behavior from the Hufflepuff beater, Cross, if you ask me! Oh, look! Potter, once again, has gotten ahold of the Quaffle! He's close now… he aims… AND HE SCORES! WOO! Gryffindor: 160, Hufflepuff: 90! Come on you flying lions, you can beat those softie badgers!"

"CLOY! NO CHEERING FOR A SELECTED TEAM!"

And so the game continued. Billy Cloy had been the quidditch commentator for only one year, but Gemma had to admit (even though McGonagall would disagree) that he did a brilliant job. As for the inappropriate comments, well, it seemed that it was a tradition for every commentator at Hogwarts to get off track while commentating.

"Wait a minute! Do my eyes deceive me, or has Jade Rollins indeed caught the Golden Snitch? SHE HAS! TAKE THAT YOU BADGERS! GRYFFINDOR WINS, 320 AGAINST 100! I think this calls for a celebration! It was my pleasure to once again host a quidditch match here at Hogwarts; my name is Billy Cloy and I hereby deem the Gryffindor celebration begun!"

At 11 PM the party in the Gryffindor common room was still loud and proud. Taylor had invited Jared and they sat together in the corner of the room, while Lily and Jackie sat in another corner. Gemma was nowhere to be found.

When Sirius, James and Taylor had entered the common room, Lily, Jackie, Gemma, Remus and Peter had all been there to congratulate their friends, but ever since then, Sirius hadn't seen Gemma.

"Oh, Sirius!" A black haired girl came close to the charming young man. "You were _fantastic _up in the air today – as always – but I have to say, you're even more fantastic now that you're here with me." It was obvious that she was flirting, and also obvious that she sucked at it. Sirius had to admit though; she was quite a good-looking girl. And it was an old habit of his, to flirt back with such girls.

"Why, thank you, love," he winked, causing her to giggle. And with that, Sirius turned his attention away from her. She had a giggle worth dying for… so that you didn't have to hear it. The girl was obviously disappointed that the most handsome boy in school did not like her, and she fled from the common room.

Sirius soon spotted Lily and James sitting on a couch together (Jackie had decided to go to bed) and they actually seemed to have a conversation without one of them (Lily) yelling at the other (James).

"I have to admit, you did great today," Lily commented to James' surprise.

"Oh, well, thank you," he replied, running his hand through his hair; not in the overconfident way he usually did, but a bit nervously actually.

"I mean, you scored like every third minute!" Lily's behavior was surprising Sirius as well. Maybe she's had too much to drink, he thought.

"I don't know about that, but, well, I couldn't have done without my team, eh?"

"Yeah, but you're the captain: you've obviously been doing something right!"

"Yeah, well, it's the team I think we should be proud of – I know I am!" Sirius couldn't help but stare at his best friend and Lily. The conversation seemed too out of place and character, and Sirius couldn't help but wonder if the two people on the couch were actually Lily and James or two students who had taken polyjuice potion.

"What's wrong with you?" Apparently Lily was thinking the same thing about the blushing James, who immediately froze as if he were guilty of something or another.

"Wha-what do you mean?"

"You're just… Well… Normally when the topic's quidditch, you won't shut up about how brilliant you are or how your future just screams famous professional quidditch player! And now when I even complement you, you only blush! Are you sick or something?" Sirius couldn't help but chuckle at this. Neither James nor Lily noticed it; in fact they hadn't noticed Sirius' presence at all.

"No, I'm perfectly fine! I just figured that, well, other people probably hate it when I won't stop bragging, and frankly, I've begun to hate it when I brag too much myself!" Lily looked at James as if he had three heads. Sirius guessed that James having three heads would actually surprise Lily less than hearing the words that had just left James' mouth.

"Oh, just snog already!" Sirius laughed. Both Lily and James blushed as they turned to look at Sirius. Lily mumbled something Sirius was unable to hear, but he could guess what it was.

"What's up, Paddy?" James asked.

"I was just wondering where Gemma is. Haven't seen her in hours."

"Oh, she left for a broom cupboard with some bloke," Lily said with a wave of her hand. Both James and Sirius stared at her, mouths open wide, and Sirius couldn't deny that he felt a sharp plunge of pain in his stomach.

"Really?" James' voice came out all high-pitched and squeaky. This caused Lily to laugh.

"Of course not! No, she told me she was tired of all the parties that have been held lately, so she's gone somewhere to read! But maybe she _has_ gone to some broom cupboard with some bloke…" Relief washed over Sirius. "And people think I have no sense of humor…" Lily said, mostly to herself, as she laughed.

"Gryffindor's won our first match of the year, and Gemma's _reading_?" Sirius asked.

"That's Gemma!"

"But I thought we'd chased the boring bookworm out of her!"

"You know she'd kill you if she heard that. But you know I'm actually surprised by how little she's been reading lately! I was beginning to worry that something was wrong with her!"

"Evans; people change! There's no need to think that something's gone wrong with them. Though I do worry about you lately; I never actually thought that you _would_ fall for Prongsie!" Before Lily could answer, Sirius left the two 'lovebirds' while laughing.

'''

Gemma sat on a wide windowsill on the seventh floor corridor. The professors had decided to move the curfew to 1 AM so that those from Ravenclaw, who had gone to the Gryffindor common room to join the party, could stay there a bit longer, and so Gemma wasn't worried about getting caught in the corridor, reading, at half past 11. She knew that it seemed weird and lonely to be reading on a Friday night, but Gemma had actually spent many of her Friday nights this way.

Footsteps suddenly broke the silence, and Gemma noticed that they were coming towards her. She looked up to see her friend and she smiled.

"Hey, Gemma! What the hell are you doing, reading on a Friday night?" Gemma chuckled.

"I'm enjoying myself."

"Mind if I sit?"

"Be my guest. So why have you left the party?"

"To find you." Gemma held a hand to her heart.

"Oh, that's so sweet!" she joked and they both laughed.

"So, what are you reading?"

"Did you really just ask a book-related question, completely voluntarily?" Gemma mock-gasped.

"Shut up and answer."

"You know that's potentially problematic," Gemma grinned. "Well, I'm reading a historical novel from the 18th century, about a young woman who tries to be different from everybody else. Cliché, right?"

"A bit. Is it an good?"

"A bit," Gemma smiled. "There's some romance in it, not that I completely resent that, but there's just something I don't get."

"What's that?"

"Well, this guy named Henry who's Katherine, the main character's boyfriend, gives her fifty roses, tells her that he'll love her 'till the last one dies, and then the last one turns out to be fake."

"I guess that it's romantic."

"Well, isn't it like, in the beginning our love will be true and pure, but in the end it'll be fake and just a lie?"

"Then how about: I'll love you 'till the last _star _dies?" Gemma thought about this.

"Now, that, I find more true and romantic."

"Yeah, and even if every single star dies out, you'll still have one left – me." Gemma chuckled.

"Sirius, if all of the stars die out, trust me, you'll die before the last one does."

"Says who?"

"Um, just something called science and perhaps astronomy – which is also a lesson here at Hogwarts that I actually thought you took."

"Yeah, I do, but it's not like I listen; I spend the time creating romantic sweet sayings," Sirius grinned at Gemma and she shook her head in amusement.

Not long after, the two friends went through the portrait hole and into the common room, where the party was still going on, but it seemed that something in the middle of the room was causing a great crowd of cheers, whistles and cat-calls. Gemma gasped when she saw what caused the disturbance, but Sirius started laughing.

There in the middle of the common room, stood a blushing Lily and a blushing James. But they weren't just blushing; they were snogging the hell out of each other.

**A bit of a cliffie, eh? :D **

**I actually have a T-shirt that says **_**I solemnly swear that I am up to no good :) **_**I got it for my birthday last year which today, is precisely a year ago. Yep, it's my birthday today! I wrote this chapter yesterday, but I forgot to post it, and I'm home alone at the moment so I thought I might as well post it now. And well, a review would be a lovely birthday gift! :D**

**But I hope you liked the chapter because there was something about it, I don't know what, that I didn't really like, but I thought **_**"I haven't posted a chapter in two weeks now, this isn't complete crap so I might as well just go ahead and post it!" **_**And yeah, sorry for the longer wait. I hope next chapter will come more quickly but I can't make any promises! **

**And by the by the, my good friend has started writing a fanfiction which can be found here on – it's called Open Your Eyes, and it's a Regulus/OC story. Oh, and her penname is TheOnlyAndOne :D I know that she would be more than happy if you checked it out!**

**Have a lovely weekend, peeps! **


	17. Awkward?

**Disclaimer: I own Harry Potter… Severus Snape: "Don't. lie. To me." Yeah, Sev's right. I don't own Harry Potter AT ALL! J. K. Rowling does, and she's my idol, my queen, my God!**

**Chapter 17**

The day after Gryffindor won over Hufflepuff, was even better than the actual day of the match, according to Gemma. Because at the party, people had been drinking and doing stuff they would hardly remember the next day, and Gemma hadn't even been there for most of the party, though that was her own fault of course.

But Sunday morning started in one of the best ways possible. All three of Gemma's girl friends woke her up by jumping on to her bed, and they spent the morning talking and laughing, right on the spot. Jackie, who had not been there at the end of the party, was eager to hear about all that had happened, and of course, what had happened psyched all of the girls – James and Lily had finally kissed.

"Is he a good kisser?"

"How drunk were you?"

"Are you a couple now?"

"Why haven't you told us that you have feelings for _the _James Potter?!"

Lily couldn't help but blush as she answered all of the girls' questions, but big smiles were plastered on all of their faces.

"Yes, he is a magnificent kisser. I was, admittedly, a bit drunk. I don't know if we're a couple now and, well, truth be told, I wasn't actually sure if I liked him before last night!"

"Oh, I'm so happy for you guys!" And Jackie saying this was another one of the terrific things that happened that day. Yes, Gemma knew that Jackie had said that she was happy _for _Lily and James, but hey, she still said that she was happy!

After chatting like the girly girls they only were on special occasions, the three girls decided that it was time for Gemma to also hear the other good news. Well, they actually showed it to her instead.

"Oh my freakin' Merlin! The first snow of the year had finally arrived!"

"Good thing it didn't decide to show up yesterday! That would have been one sucky Quidditch match…" Taylor remarked.

"Oh, don't you mean _snow _up?" Lily joked.

"Gods, even I thought that was lame, Lils," Jackie smiled. It wasn't the full, big and charming smile that Gemma knew and loved, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get some breakfast and head outside to build an igloo!"

"Gemma, really? And igloo? No way; we are going to challenge the guys for a snowball fight!" Taylor exclaimed. But Lily froze and her smile vanished.

"All of the guys? As in… as in James, too?" She asked nervously.

"Of course!"

"But… You don't think it might be a bit… awkward? Oh my God! He probably doesn't even remember!" Lily suddenly freaked out, much to Gemma's confusion. She was under the impression that Lily couldn't wait to see James. But Taylor laughed.

"Lily, this guy has chased you, asked you, even begged you to go out with him and made an utter fool out of himself for you ever since third year; he'd be the dumbest man to ever live if he can't remember the night he finally snogged the hell out of you!"

And James did indeed remember. That morning at breakfast, the first thing James did when he entered the Great Hall, was walk straight over to Lily, pull her out of her seat, and proclaim his love for her right then and there. Both Sirius and Gemma thought it a bit too forward, and they couldn't help but laugh, but Lily flung her arms around James, and right there, in the middle of the Great Hall in front of nearly the entire school, James and Lily finally became a couple. To both their humiliation, Dumbledore and the rest of the school actually started clapping. After all, it was a well-known fact that James had been going after the girl since their third year at Hogwarts. Gemma even thought that there should be a chapter about it in a new version of _Hogwarts, a History_.

"So, guys – you up for a war in the snow?" Taylor smirked.

"Challenge accepted," Sirius smirked back.

"I bet five galleons that they'll just end up kissing in the snow like all other lovebirds," Gemma joked as she nodded towards Lily and James who now sat quite close to each other, staring at the other's eyes while holding hands under the table and both completely oblivious to what the others were saying.

"Well, I'm gonna head over to Jared and ask if he wants to join us," Taylor said as she rose from her seat.

"Nooo! Then you two are just going to act like total lovebirds too!" Gemma whined.

"Tough luck, lonely girl!" Taylor joked.

But Jared didn't join the gang after all. He told Taylor that he had planned to spend the day in the snow with his close Ravenclaw pals, which Taylor of course had no problem with. She wasn't exactly the clingy type.

As soon as the eight Gryffindors were outside they were throwing snow at each other. It was an all against all war, but no one really kept score. In the girls' book, a snow war isn't fun if you're suddenly not allowed to play anymore just because you've been hit too many times. Snow war to them was about throwing snow, being hit by snow and nothing else. 'Screw winners and losers. Let's just torment each other until we're all exhausted.'

The first to attack was Taylor, and she hit Lily straight in the face.

"Don't hurt my girlfriend, you witch!" James yelled jokingly at Taylor (Lily beamed when he said girlfriend) and together the couple began aiming at a running and laughing Taylor.

Jackie and Remus helped Taylor by throwing snow at James and Lily while Sirius aimed at Remus, and Gemma aimed at Taylor. Peter joined Sirius but accidently hit James instead, causing James to go after Peter.

After a while, Lily had hit James who ran after her, and as Gemma had predicted, they ended up rolling around in the snow, kissing.

"That is so cliché…" Gemma said to Sirius while shaking her head.

"… And so revolting," he finished, shaking his head too. They both chuckled, but then snowballs from Jackie and Peter got them to thinking of the snow war again.

"I'll get you, you bastards!" Admittedly, Gemma wasn't the best when it came to snowball fights. Like with Quidditch, she knew how to dodge the ball (which of course in a snowball fight is good), and she was terrible at throwing the ball (which in a snowball fight of course is less good).

After an hour of throwing snow at each other, Gemma claimed that she was no longer able to play, and so she fell down on the snow, and proceeded to make a snow angel. Sirius came over to her and smiled charmingly at her.

"You're so beautiful." This was not something Gemma had ever expected Sirius to say to her. A million thoughts ran through her head in just one second, as her cheeks became even redder, and the cold was not at fault.

"Um… thanks." _You're pathetic, _Gemma told herself as she groaned inwards.

"Wow, well, this is awkward. I was actually talking to the angel underneath you," Sirius broke out into a wolfish grin.

"Sirius, you are such an idiot!" Gemma sat up and chucked a snowball right at his face. He just stood there as the snow fell from his face and down his coat.

"Did you just do that?"

"No, I believe that was the angel underneath me." They both laughed and Sirius fell down beside her, (not too close but not too far away) and made a snow angel as well. The rest soon joined them, and so the snow-covered ground became angel-covered too. "As a sign of peace after our war," Remus joked.

After playing in the snow for two hours, the young friends headed inside for a cup of hot chocolate in the kitchen. As always, the house elves fussed around their new company, and in no time, each of the Gryffindors had a lovely cup of hot chocolate in their hands.

Instead of staying in the kitchen, they climbed the many stairs to the Gryffindor common room, where they relaxed on the couches by the fire.

They talked, laughed, and drank their chocolate, played Exploding Snap and Wizards Chess. Gemma loved Wizards Chess, and it always reminded her of when she was five and her dad taught her how to play it. Matthew never wanted to, and so Gemma and her father had spent many nights playing Wizards Chess while Matt whined about wanting to play Exploding Snap, and in the end the whole family of four sat together playing the muggle game Monopoly while eating freshly baked cookies.

After having won over Remus and Lily in chess, Gemma cheered for Taylor to win the game of Snap (they always just called it Snap) against Sirius. It was a close call, but in the end, Taylor did win. Gemma was about to congratulate her friend when she felt it coming. A tickle to the nose that can only mean one thing: 'you're about to sneeze'.

And she didn't just sneeze once, not just twice, but five times.

"God dammit."

"Yay! Gemma's ill again!" Taylor chuckled. Remus looked at her funnily.

"That's an odd thing to be happy about." Meanwhile, Gemma was sneezing again.

"No, no! It happens every year! It's like a tradition; every day of the first snow, we go out and go berserk in the lovely white stuff, and every same evening, Gemma starts sneezing, meaning that she's caught a cold! And then her mother sends her, well, us, loads of chocolate, and some old photo albums for us to laugh at and torment Gems with!" Taylor explained.

"It's such a great tradition," Gemma said sarcastically. Truth be told, she actually loved those days she and the girls spent together while she was snotty and disgusting.

"Why don't you just get a pick-me-up-potion from Nurse Pomfrey?" Peter asked. All of the girls looked at him as if he had just suggested canceling Christmas.

"And get better in an hour? And miss out on all of the chocolate and fun albums? No way," Gemma shook her head.

"And besides, after about three days, Professor McGonagall always forces her to take a potion afterwards - so why do it early?" Lily chimed in.

* * *

_Dear Gemma,_

_I hear the first snow has fallen at Hogwarts (we're still snow-free here in southern England) so I'm guessing you're sitting with a red nose and the yearly cold. As always, I've sent you and your friends some chocolate, and Matthew and I found some old photo albums for you to look and laugh at while you're ill. There's an album from Hogwarts as well, which I think you and your friends will enjoy looking at. Speaking of your friends, how are they all doing? And have you gotten a boyfriend? Matthew keeps on telling me that you do, so I don't know whether or not to believe him. _

_Cheyenne's a lovely, beautiful and wonderful little girl! Matthew, Kayleigh and little Cheyenne are such a beautiful little family! I've sent you a picture of them all three together, and a picture of just little, sweet Cheyenne. I can't wait until you and Taylor get home for Christmas! Then I can get a picture of all of you together! _

_Send me a long letter after you're over the cold (don't want any of your germs sent here with the mail) and tell me all about how things are going at Hogwarts! We miss you so very much! And get better soon!_

_Lots of hugs, kisses, love and chocolate from, _

_Dad, Matt and Mum_

_P.S. You ain't getting any kisses from me; like I'd want your Gemma-germs… Well, little sweetie-pie has actually already infected me, but... she can get all the kisses she wants! No hugs, no kisses, a very minor, microscopic portion of love and "I want your chocolate!" from Matt._

Gemma laughed at Matt's little message, gave Crethon (her owl) a treat and sent him off to the Owlery.

"Okay, guys! Chocolate and photos are here!" Gemma, wrapped up in a top, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, a fleece and a coat, came down to the common room with chocolate and photos in hand. It had been a tiring day of school, especially because the professors kept on telling Gemma that she ought to go the infirmary, and after dinner, all the eight Gryffindors wanted to do was hang out in the common room.

"YAY!" The girls all said at the same time. The guys were there as well, and they looked expectantly at Gemma, as she took the miniature albums out of the bag, brought them back to their normal size with a wave of her wand ("Engorgio"), set them on the table and pulled out loads of chocolate as well.

"So, we just sit here and stare at pictures all night?" Sirius asked as if he thought the idea was boring.

"And eat chocolate!" Lily added as she snuggled in to James' side.

They all bunched up by the largest couch of the common room, Peter, Remus and Taylor sat on chairs behind the couch and peeped in between the others' shoulders to see the photos. Gemma chose an album from when she was three to five and Matt was nine to eleven.

The first picture was from the Fall's backyard, where Gemma and Matt sat on a blanket playing with small cars. The picture-Gemma rolled her car over picture-Matt's arms, causing him to playfully slap her hand away.

"Wow, is that Matthew?" James exclaimed.

"Yep," Gemma answered. "Without tattoos and short hair." The picture-Matt didn't have long hair, but it was longer and wilder than today's Matt's hair was.

"I've never been able to imagine him as a child… Gods, it's weird," Sirius grinned.

"Aww, Gemma, you were so cute!" Taylor laughed, causing Gemma to laugh as well.

And so the evening continued. Many chocolates were eaten and many memories were shared, but most importantly, they all laughed a hell lot that night. At first, Gemma had felt a bit awkward with letting the boys see pictures of her as little, but the feeling faded away after laughing at a few pictures (wizard pictures, thus moving pictures). And she felt like she got to know the boys better as they told stories of their own childhood.

"Once when I was about seven, I had come home from… well, I don't remember what I came home from, but the point was that I found a pair of scissors on the floor by the stairs, and what I didn't know then, was that my mum, she's a muggle by the way, had just put a new carpet on the stairs, you know how they can get dirty and torn, but I didn't know that my mum had changed it. Apparently I had the need to test how well these scissors worked, so I sat on the staircase, and started cutting in this new carpet. I totally ruined it, and when my mum suddenly came, I was all proud that I had tested the scissors so I didn't understand why she looked so upset. Boy was she angry at me!" Remus laughed.

"When I was little, I only liked the peel of the apple, don't ask me why, and then there was this one time when we were at my grandma's birthday, everyone was outside enjoying the good weather, and I was the only one inside. On this coffee table stood a whole bushel of apples, and the peel just looked so good, so I sat there, peeled all of the apples with my teeth, put them back in the bowl, and ate the peel! And to make it worse, there was this cake beside of the bowl, and a lot of spoons. Now, I didn't eat the cake, Merlin knows why, but I took a spoon in each hand, and just started ruining the cake, stabbing it with spoons! My parents were so angry at me, and I started crying 'But I was making some art for grandma'!'" Peter told his story.

"Oh, that reminds me of a time when I was little, I was also at a birthday, my uncle's, and my aunt had made this beautiful, beautiful cake. At the table, there were also these bottles of alcohol-free butterbear, and I found it funny to give them slight pushes so that they would wobble but not fall. Then I pushed one too hard, and it almost fell right down into the cake, but luckily my dad caught it. We were all like 'phew, nothing happened', but later I sat with my Quidditch broom at the table, and I thought that it would be fun to push a bottle with my broom… well, I shouldn't have done that; I poked my dad in the eye, he dropped his glass of wine, staining the tablecloth, my uncle moved the cake to save it, but then he tripped and fell over the cat, and there was cake everywhere! I'm telling you – that was the best birthday I've ever been to!" James laughed.

As everyone shared stories of stupid things they did in their childhood, Gemma noticed though, that Sirius was smiling and laughing, but he didn't share a single story himself. Gemma knew that his childhood had been awful, and she couldn't help but wanting to comfort him, and so she lay her hand on his in a friendly manner. She had no idea that this small gesture made Sirius even crazier about her.

Many chocolates and photos later, they were all yawning and doing their best not to give in to their heavy eyelids. Taylor had failed though, and was sound asleep, leaning against the back of the couch, her mouth wide open.

"Good thing she already has a boyfriend," Sirius joked.

While Gemma awoke Taylor and Remus, Peter, Jackie and Sirius went to bed, Lily and James said a private and more intimate goodnight to each other in the corner of the common room. When Taylor finally woke up, the two girls hurried upstairs so they wouldn't have to look and listen to the exchanging of saliva.

"So much for Lily's claims of not wanting to be too lovey-dovey while in public," Taylor half-mumbled.

* * *

The next afternoon, Gemma was the first one able to go to the common room after lessons. Ancient Runes had ended twenty minutes before the actual end of lesson (Professor Doven, a very nice and younger woman, felt that the students earned to get off early, though she gave them more homework than usually) and Lily had Head Girl duties, and Remus prefect duties.

Gemma took a seat on the couch by the fire, and opened the book she was currently reading. She had finished the book about Katherine, the woman from the 17th century, and was now reading the muggle legend of Robin Hood.

Much to Gemma's discontent, a group of girls from sixth year decided to sit by the fire as well. Two of them were Gryffindors, other two from Hufflepuff and the last was from Ravenclaw. From the stench of their perfume (even with a stuffed nose, Gemma could smell it) to the layers of make-up and fashionable clothes, Gemma could tell that these were girly-girls, a.k.a. not Gemma's choice of company. Well, it wasn't _that _visible that they were girly-girls, Gemma just sensed that kind of stuff.

"Oh my god, you girls have _got _to hear what this guy from seventh year Hufflepuff wrote to me," one of the girls said as she pulled out a letter from the pocket in her jacket. "_Dear Fiona, you are honestly the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. You seem so nice and funny, and I would really like to know you better. What do you say? Love from, Martin._

"Can you believe that? Lame-o!" The girl, Fiona, rolled her eyes. Gemma couldn't help but think that this girl was one of the most awful girls she had ever met.

"That is _so _cheesy! God, he is so cheap!"

"I know," Fiona gushed and rolled her eyes again.

_I really hope that when I roll my eyes, people don't get this strong wish to pluck them out, _Gemma thought, and read on in her book.

"A guy's done the same thing to me a couple of days ago. Let me just find the letter," one of the girls started to search her pocket.

_You're seriously carrying around the letter? I bet you were just waiting to brag to your friends about it._

"_Dearest Elmina, you are the prettiest, smartest, funniest and most lovely person I know. Being with you is like being in Heaven. Is there any chance that next time I'm with you, we'll be more than friends? I guaranty you won't regret saying yes. Hugs and Kisses, Jonathan."_

_Hugs and kisses? Seriously? _Was Gemma's silent comment.

"Boys are just _so _lame!" The Ravenclaw girl gushed.

_And so are you._

"As if I'd ever say yes to Jonathan!" Elmina said in a tone that only made Gemma hate her more.

_Merlin, what's wrong with these girls? Who acts and talks like that? Yeah, love letters are kind of lame_, _but who the hell publicly bashes the sender with her friends. Then again, they just like other people knowing that somebody's called them pretty I guess… Who the hell thinks those girls are pretty?_

"Hey! You're Jemima Fall, aren't you?" Gemma froze.

"Uh, just Gemma, but call me Fall," Gemma smiled falsely at Fiona. The bitch didn't even notice the fakeness.

"You're Sirius Black's new girlfriend aren't you?" One of the Hufflepuffs asked in a terrible pitchy and way-too-sweet voice. Gemma froze once again.

"Nooo, I'm just his friend."

"Really?" Elmina asked.

"Really." And just like that, Gemma was like thin air again.

_I should go dig my head in a hole…. Wait, no; I should dig _their _heads in a hole..._ _Merlin, this is awkward. _

Gemma was saved though, when none other than Sirius Black came striding over to the girls. They (minus Gemma, of course) squealed and did their best to look cool and casual now that their dream boy was there.

"Hi, Sirius," Fiona bashed her eyelashes at him.

"Uh, hi… Freya." Fiona immediately stopped smiling as Sirius said Freya instead of Fiona. Sirius couldn't care less though. "Hey, Gemma! You wanna go for a walk in the snow?"

"Please," Gemma said with wide and desperate eyes. Of course, then she had to sneeze four times, effectively revealing the fact that she had a cold, but she pretended that nothing had happened, and hurried out of the portrait hole with a red face and Sirius who couldn't control his laughter.

"Thank you so much for saving me!" Sirius continued to laugh. "Merlin, it was so awkward!"

"I could tell!"

"They just talked about boys. Nothing else but boys! They even thought that I'm your girlfriend," Gemma laughed and so did Sirius, but he could feel the fakeness in it. His feelings for Gemma were really starting to get on his nerves.

"So, we're not really going outside, are we? I think the cold would kill me."

"No, we're not going outside," Sirius smiled at her. At that moment, Lily came around the corner.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Lils," Gemma said. "How's prefect duty?"

"Boring. Would you guys walk with me?"

"Uh, I actually just remembered that I, uh, have to be somewhere," Sirius lied and ran away before the girls could say anything. They just laughed at him.

"So, will you walk with me?"

"Sure." And so Lily and Gemma strolled around the castle of Hogwarts, talking and laughing. The only prefect-things that happened were, having to warn a couple of students who were running in the corridors and helping out two Gryffindor first years who couldn't find the library.

After patrolling for half an hour, Lily and Gemma saw James and the Gryffindor keeper, Simon Hattenstone. They were both in their Quidditch gears, much to the girls' surprise.

"Are you seriously going to play Quidditch in this weather?" Gemma asked as Lily gave James a small peck on the cheek.

"Why not?" Simon asked. He had be brown curls, a crooked smile and gorgeous green eyes. It was safe to say that the sixth year Gryffindor was popular amongst the girls at Hogwarts, but Simon had never had a girlfriend. Gemma wasn't even sure if he knew that most of the girls were eager to be with him.

"It's not snowing, it might be cold but Quidditch warms you up," James added.

"Well, just watch out that you don't catch a cold like Gemma," Lily smiled. Gemma pretended not to hear this comment.

James and Simon left soon after, and Lily and Gemma continued patrolling.

"Why wasn't Sirius with them?" Lily asked.

"He had to go do something somewhere, remember?" Gemma joked and they both laughed.

"So, what do you think about Simon?" Lily caught Gemma off guard with this question.

"Um, he seems… nice? Why'd you ask?"

"Well…"

"Lily, I'll get a boyfriend when I want to," Gemma said, already knowing what Lily was thinking. "Besides, I don't thi…"

A sudden noise from a broom cupboard nearby silenced Gemma. It sounded like a metal item falling to the ground. Gemma and Lily looked at each other.

"I sure hope it's not someone going at it like bunnies," Gemma joked.

"I better check – I'm Head Girl after all."

Lily and Gemma neared the broom cupboard as if it were a dangerous beast that would bite you if your moves were too sudden. Lily silently opened the door, and both girls were disgusted by what they saw.

A topless boy was snogging a girl whose shirt was halfway up, and her back pressed against the wall. But when the girls got a better look, the girl wasn't just a random girl, but Fiona. And the guy wasn't just a random guy, no, you've probably guessed it, it was Sirius Black.

And for some reason, seeing Sirius snogging another girl caused a great lump to form in Gemma's throat.

* * *

**WooHoo! Longest chapter ever! :D **

**First off, Fiona, Elmina and the other girly-girls probably seem really fake and stereotyped, but I'm telling you, I've been in exactly the same situation as Gemma! Well, instead of letters it was messages on their Iphones (not really a wizard item, eh?) and I didn't have a book, I pretended to text someone on my cell to make it less awkward. And of course they didn't think I was Sirius' girlfriend… that had been awesome… But yeah, I got the idea while I was sitting there, hoping that I could get away soon.**

**Secondly, the reason why Gemma is sick is because she must suffer with me. Yeah, she gets sick on the first day of snow, I get sick on the first day of summer! I fucking hate myself right now! And the whole photo album thing was an idea I got Tuesday evening when I sat with my eldest sister, Mia, and my mum, looking at photos from my mother's childhood and youth. Gods, it was so fun! Oh, and Remus' childhood story is something my dad's done, Peter's is something my mum did, though the part about the cake was something her sisters did, and James' story is a different version of something my little cousin, Joseph did a pair of years ago.**

**Well, this is kind of a long author's note… better end it now :D THANK YOU FOR READING!**


	18. Stirrings

**Ugh, this took me a while to write, and it's not even the best – I've been having a bit of writer's block lately :( But here it is – chapter 18! Wow, never thought I'd get this far… THANK YOU FOR READING AND EVERYTHING ELSE! :D**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, abadabadabada…**

Chapter 18

The red curtains, black in the darkness, were all she could see as Gemma lay in her bed, late into the night. The other girls had fallen asleep long ago, and Gemma could hear Taylor's faint snoring, Lily's soft breathing and Jackie's often tossing and turning in the bed. Jackie had always been a "violent sleeper", as they joked, but Gemma had a feeling that Jackie's dreams weren't as sunny and peaceful as they once were.

The day had started going downhill when Lily and Gemma saw something they both wished they could just forget; Sirius and Fiona, half-naked in a broom cupboard. Fiona became extremely red in the face; Sirius kept on scratching his neck as he half-apologized while Lily did her best to scold the two Gryffindors.

Gemma had just stood there, surprised by how the sight of Sirius and Fiona together had affected her. As she lay in her bed in the dark of night, she still wondered why she had suddenly felt subtle tears behind her eyes.

Sirius, Lily and Gemma silently agreed to never mention the incident again, but the fact that Sirius and Lily easily pretended that nothing had happened irritated Gemma. It irritated her because for some reason, she couldn't let the sight of Sirius and Fiona go.

In the evening, the friends had sat by the fireplace with a photo album once again, laughing at the pictures. Gemma had come to sit next to Sirius again, but this time, it was all she could think about. The way he looked at her when they laughed, the way his knee unconsciously touched hers and the way he occasionally played a bit with her hair.

As Gemma lay in her bed, it suddenly dawned to her that Sirius often did these things. And he always seemed to be the one sitting next to her. He even went to the Halloween ball with her, succeeding in not snogging any girls.

_He doesn't… _like_ me… does he?_

_No, of course not – if he likes you, he wouldn't be sticking his tongue down Fiona what's-her-face's throat, would he now?_

_But maybe he _did _like me, but then he got over me really fast._

_The only way he could ever have liked you, would be when he first saw you, maybe thought you were kind of nice and then BAM! He didn't like you like that anymore. And why are you even thinking about this? Do you _want _him to like you?_

Gemma contemplated her own thought for a while. She was used to having inner battles with herself, and was far past the stage of thinking she was crazy.

_I don't know._

And so she decided to just forget about it.

Before going to bed, Jackie had begun crying again. The girls all comforted her, and told her that it would be okay, even though they all very well knew, that when someone you love dies, it won't simply _be okay._

"I just miss him! I know, I don't even see him when I'm at Hogwarts but I always knew that I'd see him at Christmas or in the summer! But now, for the rest of my life, I have to live with knowing that I won't simply see him in the holidays! All I have left of him is his stuff and pictures with him in them! Deep down inside it's really hard to look at the photos of you and your family, Gemma, I'm sorry, but it is! Because you know that you can continue to make memories with your family. My dad and I can't and we never will!"

After getting this out, Jackie's crying ceased and sleep began to take its toll. Crying really does exhaust you. And so they all crawled into bed, and they all fell asleep, except for Gemma.

She lay awake for hours more, thinking of all the things that had happened recently. All the things that had gone wrong, all the things she could have done better. But as it had happened with Jackie, being sad always ends with simply being tired and she closed her eyes to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Gemma's bedside table was covered in a pile of mess; mainly books and notes, but also candy wrappers, water bottles, quills and small boxes. A newly framed picture of Cheyenne stood there as well, and Gemma had made it a tradition as of one day, to look at it every evening before she went to sleep, and every morning after she woke up.

Cheyenne was a cute mixture of both of her parents. She had Kaylee's cloudy dark blue eyes that seemed to have spots of milk in them and Matt's smile dimples. Her hair though, had a dark red color which reminded Gemma of Lily.

It was safe to say that Cheyenne was the most adorable thing Gemma had ever seen. She couldn't wait until Christmas, when she would finally see the little beauty for the first time.

Sirius couldn't wait until Christmas either. He had finally found an apartment worth the money, and was planning on moving in in the holidays. Living with the Potters was great, but he couldn't help but feel that he was a burden to Vera and Thomas in spite of how they constantly told him that it was a pleasure to have him live with them.

The whole Gemma-thing that had been clouding Sirius' mind seemed to have faded away when Sirius woke up the day after the broom cupboard incident. He had always known that it would be stupid to tell Gemma about his feelings, and that two good friends shouldn't ruin their friendship by going out together, he had just needed to convince his mind of it. It was weird being with Fiona at first, but when they got into it, his mind simply shut down and his instincts took over.

Yet when Lily and Gemma suddenly appeared at the door, for some reason, Sirius felt guilty. As if he had been caught cheating. He couldn't bring himself to look at Gemma, and simply rubbed his neck as he half-apologized to Lily as if it were no big deal. He just acted cool and casual as he always did. But when he brought himself to finally look at Gemma, he was bothered to find that he couldn't read her expression. He actually, and shamefully, wanted her to be sad to see him with another girl. But no emotions showed, leaving him to believe that she really had no feelings for him whatsoever, and that his feelings for her were doomed to die. Maybe that was why he felt different when he woke up. Maybe he had finally convinced his mind that it was stupid to harbor a crush on Gemma.

The professors seemed to have agreed to ambush the seventh year students with loads of homework at the same time, and so the girls, Remus and James (quite shockingly) spent a lot of time in the library in the days that came to pass. Gemma liked finally being back in her old rhythm, back before she became friends with the Marauders, where her days consisted of reading, studying, listening to music and hanging out with her friends. For some reason, this rhythm seemed less complicated.

One later evening as the teenagers sat in the library, Sirius suddenly decided to show up, and he plunked himself down in the seat beside Gemma.

She continued to write without even acknowledging him. It wasn't that she was trying to ignore him or be mean; she was just getting stressed lately with all of the homework and such. Sirius being so carefree and relaxed kind of pissed her off at times, but they all had a laugh out of it.

"Since when did you start using perfume?" Gemma whispered to him without looking up from her paper. Sirius frowned and looked down at himself trying to smell any perfume.

"Oh no, this isn't mine; I just, um, had a bit of fun with a Miss… Bianca? … in the back of the library," he chuckled. Gemma looked at him in disgust.

"You didn't do it in the library, did you?"

"No, not all the way," he smirked at her. She shook her head at him and went back to reading what she had just written.

"You're vile."

"And you're ugly."

"You're a pig."

"You're a worm."

"You're revolting."

"And you're old and hag-ish."

"Hag-ish isn't even a word."

"Of course you'd know."

"Oh, would you two lovebirds just shut up!" Taylor whispered angrily. Gemma and Sirius both chuckled. There was something about the way Taylor said 'lovebirds' though, that unnerved Gemma. She wasn't flirting with him, was she? They were just teasing each other and having fun, weren't they?

Sirius soon left along with James, and Gemma found herself not being able to concentrate. The whole thing about Sirius was clogging her mind. She couldn't deny that she felt a little plunge of sadness when she thought about Sirius being with another girl, and Merlin forbid it, even a little sting of jealousy. Yet when Sirius was there with her, it was easy to forget about it, and just act normal around him. It felt weird really. Wasn't she supposed to feel nervous and awkward around him and not only after he had left?

Unable to study, Gemma began to pack her things.

"Are you done already?" Lily looked at Gemma with playful envy.

"No, far from, but my mind's decided it won't cooperate any more so I might as well just leave."

"Ugh, I wish I could do the same, but this astronomy paper is due half past eleven," Taylor groaned.

"_Half past eleven?_" Lily repeated. "Shut up and go back to working on it," she said with a friendly, yet stern voice.

"Well, see ya' guys!"

Gemma had little desire to go to the common room, and decided to head to the music room instead. She had been there a lot lately, now that she thought about it. But it was simply one of her favorite places at Hogwarts, and a place where she felt entirely alone.

After putting on a record by Poison For My Valentine, Gemma sat in the old worn-out couch and opened her Robin Hood book. She let the words of the song and the words of the book carry her into her own little world, which actually wasn't that little, but huge.

* * *

Lily, Taylor and Jackie sat in the library for two hours more, though they didn't study the entire time.

"Do you guys still think that there's something going on between Sirius and Gems?" Taylor whispered with a hint of a smirk.

"Of course! It's so obvious. Though I still don't think that they're secretly going out, but I know that they like each other," Jackie replied.

"I'm not so sure if Sirius really _really _likes Gemma anymore though. I mean, the whole broom cupboard thing?" Lily added. She had told Taylor and Jackie of what had happened, and they had both been majorly disgusted.

"Yeah, but Sirius is a guy, isn't he? And what are guys bad at? Understanding emotions. _Acting _on their emotions. And Sirius is Sirius, eh? He's basically known for just whoring around," Jackie reasoned.

"He just seems different around Gemma lately. Yeah, he still flirts with her, but he flirts with all girls. I'm worried that his crush on Gemma is beginning to wear off. Which is horrible, because they're so cute together! And they're totally perfect for each other, especially now that James and I are together – I mean, James is Sirius' best friend!" Lily said, ending with a dreamy look as she mentioned James, causing her friends to snicker at her.

"What's even more horrible if Sirius' crush on Gemma is beginning to wear off is, that I think it's finally dawning to Gems that she has a major crush on him," Taylor frowned.

"Maybe would should just lock them up in a room together, and not let them out until they get together," Jackie joked.

"How about we make that plan B," Lily chuckled.

"Well, time's running out, guys, I better get back to working on this stupid thing," Taylor sighed, dipped her quill in ink and began to scribble on, leaving the sound of the tip of the quill against parchment being the only sound amongst the girls.

Lily, Taylor and Jackie left the library when Taylor finally finished her paper at a quarter past eleven. Curfew was in fifteen minutes, and so was Taylor's astronomy class. She met up with Jared and together they went to the tower.

Taylor really liked Jared. He was her second real boyfriend and compared to her first one, Jared was like a dream come true. But Taylor, being Taylor, never wanted to seem too girlish and cheesy, so she just let the relationship take them wherever it would, and didn't go springing about, singing of her feelings for Jared. They hadn't even told each other yet that they loved one another.

As for Lily and James, everyone was quite interested in where that relationship would end up. Some said that they would split up after a week when James would announce that it had all been a bet and others said that they would grow old together, have loads of children and grandchildren and simply the best and happiest life anyone could ever ask for. Sirius joked that he could easily see them as an old bickering married couple, surrounded by grandchildren who want to hear of James' big Quidditch and Auror carriers, and stories about Lily's mad and crazy, but funny patients at the hospital of St. Mungo's.

"So, how's everything on the Jily front?" Jackie half-smiled.

"Jily?" Lily questioned.

"You know; it's your couple name. Like we call Taylor and Jared, Jaylor – we thought that Jily was better than Lames…"

"I agree," Lily laughed. "So are you sure that you want to hear about how James and I are doing?" Taylor nodded. "Well, I don't want to get all squeaky, girly and cheesy, but I really, really like him! I know I had my dignity, but I really wish I'd just given in to him earlier. Then again, he has changed this year, he really has."

Jackie half-grinned. Hearing about Lily and James also reminded her about how she was back before her father died. How she loved being with the boys, always made a big deal out of her appearance and loved the gossip, all at once without being a bitch. Now she didn't care much for boys; she barley even wanted to look at herself in the mirror, and every time people talked about their lives, she somehow managed to find a connection to her father.

In the common room, Lily gave James a goodnight kiss before he headed to astronomy with Sirius. Jackie went up to the dormitory, not wanting to see the exchange of saliva, and found Gemma lying in her bed, sound asleep. Jackie couldn't help but think about how much Gemma had changed as well, though there was still a quiet, shy bookworm inside of her. Maybe she, Jackie, could also find the old her again one day.

* * *

Gemma awoke from a dreamless sleep in the middle of the night. She thought that it was the sound of Taylor coming back from astronomy that had disturbed her sleep, but when she checked the clock he saw that Taylor would have come back an hour ago. No, the thing that awoken her, was another sound.

The sound of someone crying.

Gemma climbed out of bed and walked over to Jackie's closed curtains. She peeked her head inside and saw a sniffling Jacqueline.

"S-Sorry for waking you up," she apologized.

"No, it's okay. Can I sit?"

Jackie nodded and scooted over a bit so that Gemma could sit. The blond Gryffindor closed her arms around Jackie in a hug, no words leaving her mouth. It was clear that Jackie was crying because of her dead father, and Gemma saw no reason to question it.

"Do you still want to join the Order?" Jackie gave Gemma no time to answer. "I do. Even more than before. I want to fight for my father. I want to make those bastards pay for everything they do and everything they've done. I'm not the only one who's lost someone I love. Far from. I'm not the only one in tears. But I want to help making sure that no more have to cry like me. I want… I…" Jackie trailed off and hugged Gemma back.

"Me too, Jackie. Me too," was all Gemma could say.

Eventually Jackie's tears stopped flowing, and her cheeks dried off.

"Hey, Gemma?"

"Hmm."

"I've kinda been wondering; how is that you've changed into a more outgoing and sociable person, but you're still you? I mean, the _old _you."

"I don't know. But I understand what you mean. I used to be all cooped up, but now I'm even friends with boys! But I'm still me. I guess, well, I'm not the girl who's in love with poetry, and loves to recite those stupid naïve words, but Taylor once told me this short poem-thingamajig from America, written by a children's author named… Dr. Seuss, I think, and well, he wrote: _Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you. _I think he's right. And well, no matter what, you'll always have a bit of the old you in you."

"I just wish that I could have more of the old me in me," Jackie sighed. Silence came again, and Gemma nearly dozed off when Jackie spoke once more, this time of an entirely unrelated topic.

"You know, Gemma, Lily told Taylor and me about the whole Sirius and Fiona thing." Gemma froze.

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Well, Taylor, Lily and I can all tell that you've been a bit distant lately, and I also think we know why." Gemma didn't answer as she was still wondering why Jackie suddenly brought this up. "We've been your best friends for nearly six and a half years, Gemma; others can't tell, hell, I don't even think that _you _can tell, but we know that you have feelings for Sirius," Jackie said bluntly. When tired, Jackie often said things without thinking about it. Gemma took this as the explanation as to why Jackie was suddenly saying these things.

"I don't have feelings for Sirius!" Gemma blurted out. They had been talking with hushed voiced before, as to not wake the others, but luckily Lily and Taylor didn't wake by Gemma's outburst. Jackie looked at her all-knowingly, a look that Gemma had come to loathe. "I Siriusly… I mean it; I don't!"

"Gemma, if you admit it to yourself, it will make it a whole lot easier." Gemma frowned at Jackie.

"Fine. I have… I feel… stirrings towards Sirius."

"Stirrings?" Jackie repeated.

"Stirrings," Gemma confirmed.

"Nothing more?"

"I don't know!" Gemma groaned. "I mean, I don't have actual _feelings_ for him, but I do _feel _something for him… about him?.. Whatever it's called…" Jackie smiled at her friend. "But no matter what, Sirius clearly doesn't have feelings for me, so having… whatever… for him, is a very bad idea. And actually, I don't think that it has that much to do with Sirius. I just think that I've, you know, changed! Maybe I've… sadly… become a real teenage girl who thinks about boys, and might be tired of always being alone. And well, Sirius is one of the only real guy friends that I've ever had, so maybe that's why I… have whatever for him…" Gemma trailed off, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Maybe you're right," Jackie said. "So, do you want a boyfriend?" Gemma looked at Jackie as if she had just asked if she wanted to kiss the giant squid.

"You know what? I think you're overtired – you're not thinking straight." Jackie smiled halfheartedly. As if on cue, a yawn escaped her lips.

"I guess you're right. But don't think that this talk has been finished. We'll speak again tomorrow. And, uh, thank you, Gems, for you know… comforting me," Jackie smiled, though her eyes stayed in a frown.

"No problem," Gemma smiled and hugged Jackie. "Nighty night."

"Nighty night."

**A bit of a crappy and rushed ending, I know? I think it all seemed crappy and rushed, but hey, I'm no pro author - far from! And I just had to get this chapter done today, because tomorrow I'm leaving for the US! YAY! I haven't been there in, like, six years! I siriusly can't wait :) But this sadly means that I won't be updating for a month. I might write a bit on the next chapter when I'm there, but I doubt that I'll find time, a computer and internet to upload a chapter :( Well, have a great summer everyone, and if you have ANY ideas for this story, feel free to PM me – just don't write the idea in a review, because it would kind of suck if everyone else also knows about it, if you know what I mean :) But don't worry - if I use your idea, I promise to write that it was you who came up with it ;) TTFN! Ta Ta For Now! :D **


	19. Author's Note

**Ello my lovely readers! I'm sorry if you thought that this was a new chapter, but the sad truth is, I don't think that there will be a new chapter for a long time, that is, if there ever will be one. I just feel that I'm getting nowhere with this story, and though I really like the characters (and I've been glad to hear that you really like Gemma) I just don't see the plot in this story, which is not a good thing when I'm the one writing it, eh?**

**I kinda doubt that many of you really care about me giving up on Rebels of War, but to those of you who do, I really am sorry. I thought that I could actually get far with this story, but well, it's the longest story I've ever written, so I'm happy enough.**

**I doubt though, that this will be the last time you hear from me (well, that of course depends on if you ****_want _****to hear from me) – I haven't given up on writing fanfictions in all, I just think that maybe the next story I come up with (I actually already ****_have _****come up with another story already) should be planned out a bit better :) But oh well, I'm only a young teenager – it was kinda naïve of me to think that I would finish this story :)**

**Now, I may one day come up with new ideas for Rebels of War, and start writing it again, so I won't put the story on permanent hiatus, but I'm just so happy that you've read my story up until now – I'm so very, very grateful that you found this story worth reading; I just no longer find it worth writing.**

**Thank you and ta ta for now :D**

**~ NorthernDragon **


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